General Warning – Blockhouse / Rhodes Memorial area

An incident on Sunday 23 September has prompted a general warning to cyclists and runners in the Blockhouse / Rhodes Memorial area – to be on the lookout for a menacing group of youths (4 or more) who are not afraid to confront and harass people.

These kids are seemingly high on something and were not afraid to block the road – prompting the rider to shoulder charge his way through the group. He managed to get away and to warn other cyclists who were on their way up to the Blockhouse.

Apparently they were reported but we have no detail on this.

In 2011 we saw 11 attacks – some causing serious injury – in this general area.  This year has been quiet to date.

Cyclist Attacked and Robbed near the Arboretum in TokaiResident was attacked in the Tokai Arboretum parking area on a recent Thursday evening. Resident was riding fast through the parking lot in the dark when he was suddenly hit in the face. As he staggered, not knowing what had happened, two coloured males accosted him and took his bike.

They both jumped on the bike and rode off down the road past the Manor House. Resident stopped a car that was driving up the road and the driver quickly agreed to give chase past the picnic area, but the thieves had already disappeared. Resident then went back to the security gate at Chrysalis Academy and with their help, alerted the police, armed response and the neighborhood watch. The security guards reported that they had spotted these 2 guys walking up the road and had been monitoring them due to their suspicious demeanour, but the point of the attack was beyond their range of view.

On subsequent inspections of the area, resident has found a thick, solid branch about 2.5m long and believes thieves could have been hiding behind the first big tree on the left as he come down through the gate and then whacked him with that branch.

Apart from 4 stitches on his chin, resident is fine and understands that SAN Parks want to write a full report.

For what it is worth, for all the eyes out there, the bike was a White Giant Anthem 29er MTB. There are very few of those white ones in the country so it will always be easy to identify.

If anyone has seen a bike matching this description, please reply to this email.

Be careful out there.