NOCATEE, Fla. — Multiple women exercising outdoors in the Nocatee area of St. Johns County reported being slapped on their rear ends by a teenage boy riding an e-bike.
The incidents occurred in recent days along local paths and roadways, including the Conservation Trail and near Crosswater Parkway.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office responded to at least one report in the area on Thursday at Sabal Creek Trail involving a juvenile bicyclist who slapped a pedestrian.
The sheriff’s office reported that the complainant provided a physical description of the suspect but requested that deputies only document the incident, choosing not to file formal charges.
Hallie Johnston said she was walking alone along the Conservation Trail on Sunday afternoon when a teenage boy riding an e-bike approached from behind and slapped her rear end. Johnston expressed shock at the sudden disturbance while exercising outdoors.
“It literally caught me off guard. I didn’t even know how to react,” Johnston said, adding that she was left feeling “honestly disgusted” by the encounter.
Three days later, 26-year-old Alexis Gabos experienced a similar encounter while running on a trail behind Nocatee’s Splash Park on Wednesday.
Gabos said she was slapped on her rear end by a teenage boy riding an e-bike.
“I was completely startled. I was like, did that really just happen?” said Gabos, who said it then happened a second time 10 minutes later as she continued running toward Crosswater Parkway.
Gabos said the repeated encounter left her upset and unsure of how to respond. “I felt myself getting really emotional. I didn’t know how to react,” she said.
After the second slap, Gabos attempted to chase the suspect on foot, but she was unable to keep pace with the motorized bicycle.
She stopped another woman who was running alone in the area to ask if she had seen the rider. “I didn’t even have to finish my sentence before she was like, yeah, it just happened to me too. And he did it twice,” Gabos said.
Gabos later detailed her experience in a post on the Ponte Vedra, Nocatee and Coastal Communities Facebook group.
The social media post quickly generated local attention, leading another community member to comment that she was targeted in the same manner on Thursday and filed a report with law enforcement.
Gabos filed a formal police report regarding the incidents, while Johnston said she plans to file a report as well.
Both women said they are taking extra precautions when exercising alone outdoors and hope local parents will talk with their children to teach them that such behavior is unacceptable.
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