Police in Methuen are searching for teens on e-bikes following what authorities describe as a random assault on a rail trail. Boston 25 News has the latest on the investigation.
Teens had his hood up and he turned the one that hit me,
the one with the red hoodie, smiled at what he had done.
A man attacked by teens on e-bikes.
He wants answers and police need your help finding who did this.
It is our top story tonight. Boston 25 Lisa Pappas is live in Methuen
and Lisa, this victim tells you he was caught off guard.
Yeah, this man says it was pretty startling to get punched in the back
when he was just walking along this rail trail here.
And now he has a message for those teenagers.
The Methuen Rail Trail should be a place where people can walk and
enjoy the foliage and each other's company and just have some peace.
There was no peace on that afternoon.
Greg Curtis says he was walking along the Methuen Rail
Trail Friday around 5.30 when he was attacked at random.
From out of nowhere,
suddenly I was blindsided from behind and got a punch to the kidney.
And then I looked up and saw that there were seven teens
on e-bikes speeding away from the scene.
Methuen police posted this surveillance of a group of teens on e-bikes
who they believe is responsible for this assault.
Police say they were traveling along the rail trail
from Lawrence heading north towards Salem, New Hampshire.
One of the teens had his hood up and he turned.
The one that hit me, the one with the red hoodie,
smiled at what he had done.
Curtis says luckily he was okay,
but he saw the group continuing to harass others on the trail.
There were three ladies who they were yelling and swearing at,
and they were quite upset.
And then another woman, they came within an inch of hitting her.
While Methuen police continue to search for this group of teens,
Curtis has a message for them.
If they come forward, I am not going to press charges.
I am not going to press charges.
Instead, though, there's a catch.
I want them to walk the rail trail with me.
30 times, 30 days.
I just want to make it clear that this is not their rail trail,
and it's not my rail trail.
It's our rail trail.
And the mayor of Methuen says this behavior is disgusting
and will not be tolerated.
If you happen to recognize those suspects, call Methuen Police.
Live in Methuen, I'm Lisa Pappas
for your local station, Boston 25 News.
Terrible situation. All right. Thanks, Lisa.