Florida 'Karen' Nabbed for Chasing Down Teen Riding a Bike: Cops

[Applause]. there was this lady trying to hit me. and he said, "Mom, mom, this crazy lady. just tried to run me over." And I was. like, "What are you talking about?". A Florida woman is accused of chasing a. teenager riding an ebike, even. tailgating him on a bike path as he. tried to get away. We have her. questionable excuse for her alleged. actions and witness video that may prove. the whole thing. Welcome to Sidebar. presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse.

Weber. Hey everybody, this is another Law and. Crime legal alert. So, recent. allegations against the multibillion. dollar video game industry claim that. video games are engineered for. addiction. Yeah. So, the claims include. trying to make sense of the hold that. video games seem to have over people. where they just can't put the controller. down. Every win triggers that hit of. dopamine and that creates a cycle of. compulsion that disrupts daily life and. it harms mental health. But our legal. sponsors are taking on the industry that.

has allegedly at many times put profit. over safety and they're working to. potentially get compensation for all of. those impacted. So if you or a loved one. have suffered physical or mental health. issues due to video games, then visit. vgclaims.com/sidebar. to answer less than 10 questions and. check your eligibility to file a claim. So school's out and 14-year-old Gage was. doing what a lot of kids do over summer. vacation. He was riding his bike near. his neighborhood in Palm Coast, Florida. He was apparently cruising along the. Pine Lakes bike and walking path next to.

the road when he realized something was. very wrong. There was this lady trying to hit me. [Applause]. [Music]. [Music]. [Applause]. That's right. A woman in an SUV had. apparently driven onto the bike path and. was following him. Now, another video.

filmed by a witness shows both Gage and. the driver of the SUV flying across. crosswalks and at times she gets. dangerously close to him. A man later. told police that he saw Gage waving his. arms trying to get somebody to help him. So, this man's girlfriend wasn't very. far behind him, driving a separate car, so he told her to start recording on her. phone. And at one point, she points the. camera at her odometer as she's. alongside them, showing that they're. going around 20 miles an hour. And that.

is when her boyfriend uses his car to. essentially block the SUV and let Gage. get away. Now, he also reached out to. dispatchers to let them know what was. going on. Deputies, they responded. They. talked to the witnesses, but Gage and. the suspect had already left the scene. Fortunately, the witness video picked up. the SUV's license plate, and deputies. tracked down their suspect, 65-year-old. Julia Calhoff, but they weren't sure who. the teenager was since he'd raced away. Flaggler County Sheriff's Office said.

that Gage's parents got in touch with. them about what happened. And according. to a release from the sheriff's office, Calto told deputies that the incident. occurred because she was angry at the. victim for riding his ebike too fast and. wanted to find out where he lived in. order to speak to his parents. But. according to Gage, Calto had screamed at. him, chased him, tried to force him off. the path. So a few days after the. incident happened on June 10th, deputies. arrested Ktoff, charged her with. aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. without intent to kill and reckless. driving. She was also issued a traffic.

citation for driving along the multi-use. path. And in a statement, Sheriff Rick. Staley said, "This woman caused a. dangerous situation with her reckless. and aggressive behavior and could have. seriously hurt or killed not just the. child she was chasing, but anyone who. happened to be walking or biking on that. path. I'm thankful that nobody was hurt. or she could be facing even more serious. charges. I also want to thank the. bystander who stopped a dangerous. situation and called 911 so that our. deputies could handle it, conduct their. investigation, and arrest this driver.

who clearly needs anger management. Now, according to Florida law, ebikes have to. follow basically the same rules as. regular bicycles. They could be ridden. on streets, highway, shoulders, bike. lanes, and multi-use paths. So, that's. something that might factor into this. case. And as far as this suspect, she. was released on a $3,000 bond. Her. arraignment is scheduled for July 22nd. in Flaggler County Court. Here's the. thing. I had the opportunity to actually. catch up with the teen's parents, Adam. and Christa Ellis, to find out how their.

son is doing and what they hope happens. next. Take a listen. Adam, Christina, thank you so much for taking the time. It's it's great to meet both of you. I. can imagine this is a very strange and. tough time. How is your son doing? How. are you guys doing with everything. that's been going on, including the fact. that this has made essentially national. headlines? It's it's a shell shock. Um Gage is. doing great. He's he still has yet to. ride his ebike and that's with good.

measure. Um, I think when he decides he. wants to ride it, I think we're going to. go out with him on ours, take him. through the neighborhood, just like I. said, just make sure that everything is. kosher, nothing, you know, no target, you know, nothing weird happens until he. gets his confidence build back up. And. Christine, I mean, did he ever have. problems like this before? Did you ever. say, "Hey, I don't like the way you're. writing it." um anything like that.

before this incident happened? No, he. has not. Um he has not personally, but. he's had friends that um have been run. off the road. He's had friends that's. come in close coincidences, but um for. him in particular, no. How did you find. out what happened here? Well, he came home after it happened and. he told me about it. This was Saturday. night. And he said, "Mom, mom, this.

crazy lady just tried to run me over.". And I was like, "What are you talking. about?" You know, and my first instinct. was to ask him, "Okay, Gage, you know, what did you do?" And he goes, "Mom, I. swear I didn't do anything." Um, and I. said, "Well, what triggered her?" And he. said, "Mom," he said, um, I was coming. out of the neighborhood. And he said, "I. just were, but one instance to avoid. hitting a rock." I said, "Well, were you.

close to her?" He said, "No." He said, "She was a good bit uh a good bit of a. ways down the road." And he said, "She. went down to the end of the road, took a. U-turn, and then I could hear somebody. screaming." And he said, "I looked. beside me and she was beside me. screaming with all of her windows down.". And he said, "It scared me." And I. started speeding up. Um, and I said, "Okay." And then what? He said she. started following me and he walked me. through the instance and then um he says.

she cut me off trying to get me or when. I was getting on the bike path and he. said I started getting a little you know. when you pedal the bikes they do get a. little bit faster. He says, "So I. started pedalling for my life and um he. said I started waving people down and he. said at that point I started recording. too just so I you know have evidence and. he's like look um and he said thankfully. a witness stopped and cut her off and he. said he was on the phone. The guy told.

me that he was calling the cops and um. and I said okay good. They called the. cops. I said, "So," and you know, I'm. like, "Do I need to call the cops?" I. was in panic. "Do I need to call the. cops?" And then I told him, I said, "Okay, everybody knows your bike. You. know, you're the only one in. neighborhood that has it." I said, "They'll get the report and they'll. follow up with us." And I said, "If not, we'll follow up in the morning." And I. asked him, I said, "What do you want me. to do? Do you want me to call the cops. now?" He's like, "No, no, just Okay.".

So, the next morning, he got up and he. started telling his dad and Nana about. it. And then that's when he was kind of. a little bit shaky talking about it. And. then my husband's like, "Well, let's. call the cops, follow up, see if there. was a report, see if anything happened.". And then it kind of escalated from. there. And I want to get into the police. response or um maybe what you I believe. what you're going to what you told us. before the interview, maybe the lack of. initial response, which I think is. interesting to talk about. But when you.

guys saw that video and we all saw that. video, what was your reaction to it? Adam, I'll start with you. The initial. reaction was rage. Like, how can someone. h what were that what was that person. thinking? Basically, the initial. response was call the police. Let's get. the officer out here. And the when I. called 911 the first or the dispatch. number, that's when they said they. pulled the report. They said, "Oh,

you're the guy from you're the father of. the kid from last stunt." I was like, "Yes, officer in route." And then it. kind of kind of went south almost. instantly. uh Sunday. That's when the frustration. really kicked in. And and I want to get. to that. And Christina, when you saw the. video, and by the way, did your reaction. to that? And did you ever get a chance. to talk with the person who allegedly. cut her off? Not until after she was arrested and the.

report w went viral. In the few times. that we talked to the cops or Adam. called the police department, they. didn't give us any information. They did. not give us her name. They did not give. us the witness name. Nothing. Um, so we. didn't get the witness video until. Wednesday or Tuesday night. Uh, I think. it might have been Tuesday night. Wednesday night she came over and we, you know, introduced ourselves and. thanked him and um and then his.

girlfriend was with him, Britney, and. she said, "Hey, I have the video. Do you. want it?" She said, "I uploaded it to. the police department." And I was like, "Yes, yes, please." And she showed us. the video. And that video, my heart sank. Gauges was pretty intense, but looking. at Britney's video just really put it. all together. It was like, "Holy cow.". And then the more you watch it, your.

heart just sinks because not once, but. twice she came pretty close to hitting. him. I was going to ask you, if if if. someone didn't intervene, what do you. think could have happened? There's a. thousand scenarios you could play in. that one. I mean, you can you pick one, you know, because we didn't know we. didn't know the intent. You never know. I mean, like I said, you can name any. scenario known to mankind because when. you're when a child is being followed on.

a bike path, the the scenarios are. endless. Talk to me about the frustration, the. police response. This is this is when. you when you had sent us notes about. this, I was uh I was shocked. So, talk. to our our audience about what police uh. reportedly told you initially and how it. developed. Well, the first officer that came out. Sunday, um he listened to us. He talked.

to Gage. Gage kept trying to show him. the video. Um he's like, "What video? I. haven't seen the video." Adam told him, he said, "Look," he said, "I'm trying to. upload it to dispatch just like they. told me." And he goes, "Okay, I don't. know what to do in this situation. I've. never been in this situation before. Um, let me go call my supervisor.". So, he goes to uh goes to his car. He's. out there probably what, good 10, 15. minutes maybe. And then he comes back and he says, um,

he looks at Gage and asked him, he said, did she put you in harm? And Gage Totem. said, "Yes, I fear for my life. She cut. me off twice um before I started. recording." He said, "That's why I. started recording." And then he said, "Well, looking at what the officer wrote. last night, she didn't hit you. If she. wanted to or if she wanted to cause harm. to you or hit you, she could have. So,

in theory, no crime was done. M um no. law. He said, "Yes, she broke the law by. getting on the bike pathway, but we. didn't see it, so we cannot issue a. citation.". Me and Adam both looked at each other. like, "What do you mean you didn't see. it? Here's a video. There's also a. witness that has the video which we have. not seen yet." I said, "There was a. witness. So, you're telling us there's.

nothing you can do?" And he said, "Nope, nothing we can do. There's nothing to. report, nothing to do. And then and then. you took action yourselves. You went to. social media, right? Absolutely. And that was um Adam's first initial. response in our community page and our W. section page is tell me this is legal. without being illegal. Tell me why cops. think that this is okay. And that's.

where it blew up because everybody's. like, "How is she she's chasing a kid? How is. this lady not arrested?" Um, at that. point, that's when a lot of people start. attacking the Flagler County Sheriff's. Department, asking asking why, why is. this not illegal? Why is she not. arrested? Tell us how this is okay. The biggest frustration I got out of it. was, "Okay, Sunday, nothing's getting. done." That I mean, that's how he left.

us. There's no crime. Nothing happened. And then he said this the supervisor on. shift Saturday scolded the woman. That. was how they left it. We gave her a. stern talking to. And I was like, "Okay, well, that that's it is what it is." So, I called Monday to get the police report. from Saturday. They said no report was. ever initiated. So there was no report Saturday night. Done. Not filed. They said the 911 call.

has been redacted. So there was nothing. physically that I could do. It was out. of my hands. So that's when I called. they told the dispatcher told me to call. police again Monday and started another. report. So officer came Monday. Started the same like the spill. There's. no crime here. There's nobody's at. fault. There's nothing that we can do. It's just one of those things. And that's when the emotions exploded.

What do you mean? What happened? Just. like. helpless. So, after this response online, what. changed? Well, when the second officer came out, um, what was it you told the officer? the after the explosion from Monday, the. views, the comments being tagged, um Tuesday,

uh multiple officers showed up Tuesday. Um the sergeant on shift for Tuesday. with the same officer for Monday. and he told me he said on behalf of. Figer County Sheriff's Department, we. apologize. The report was it Monday? Monday is when we wrote the report. He. apologized on behalf of his staff, the. deputies, and said they handled the mis. this whole situation was mishandled. Did. they just a moment? Okay. One day after.

Adam called uh the officer back out here. and demanded to write a report, you. know, again, they started out where they. didn't want to do anything. That's when. Adam kind of lost it. He said, "Okay.". He goes, "All right, then. That's how. you want to play it. you don't want to. help us. She didn't do anything wrong. He said, "Let's see. Let's see how. this." He said, "Either you can write a. report or we're going to court.". I did. At that point, I did threaten to. sue. He threatened to sue. And then at.

that point, that's when the officer went. back. This officer went to his car, spoke to whoever it was, and then came. back, said, "Okay, let's watch this. report." And then that's when we wrote. up the report. And then Tuesday is when. that officer and another officer came. back and then they apologized to Adam. Did Did they admit that the amount of. attention they were getting on social. media influenced. the the Daytona News Sentinel uh.

reporter just the timing was perfect. because he was here when the deputy. showed up. So the the timing was. perfect. Um, and Frank, he's the one. that initially took the story and did a. wonderful piece. I couldn't ask for. anybody to write a better piece on it, but he was asking for comments. and they just they shut of course, you. know, they're not going to talk to a. reporter. No, of course not. But my.

understanding is you've said, and. correct me if I'm wrong, public. sentiment is kind of turned against you. and your son. the the comments of, "Oh, this kid's. entitled." Um, what was another one? Oh, uh, parenting 101 has failed. It just. they're questioning why he was on Well, I can understand both sides. because there are a lot of kids on. ebikes that are doing stupid things.

There's also a lot of adults on ebikes. that are doing stupid things. And seeing. and hearing and witnessing a lot of this. is the reason why it took us three years. to buy gauge one of these bikes. You. know, from for 3 years I've told him no, no, no. And then it got to the point. where you can show me you can be. responsible. Uh you follow up on the. driver's ed, you know, the driver's. manual handbook. Look at that. Look at. some uh bike safety. I said once you do.

that, we'll talk about getting you an. ebike. So, this kid studied the driver's. book for months. Um, we actually lost my. godson in October in a motorcycle. accident. Oh, sorry. Thank you. So, I. think that just really kind of opened. his eyes, too, is you know, and it was. the driver that was at fault. He was in. a truck and he didn't see him on the. motorcycle. ran him over, you know, and. um I think Gage.

hearing that story, going to the. funeral, hearing, you know, the the the. incidences with motorcycles and things, I think he then that kicked in. This is. why mom and dad's taking this so. serious. This is why they're why they've. hesitated on buying me a bike. You know, Gage has also seen grown men run out in. front of me, not stopping at stop signs, um, not stopping at the crosswalks,

running red lights. You know, he's seen. my frustration. He's seen my heart race. and pound of the near misses. So, I. think he's had enough that he realizes. what he should and should not be doing. on the ebike. Well, this, by the way, I. I didn't know that and I'm I'm so sorry. for your loss, but it sounds to me now. this episode has a much different. meaning for you guys. It has a much. different meaning. Um, and. understandably so. I'm glad that you've, you know, have responded to the comments.

that you're getting online. Um, you. know, it's it's disturbing to say the. least. Um, but now she's been arrested. So, uh, Julia Coff has been arrested. She has been charged. What do you make. of the charges? What are you hoping. justice is in this criminal case? Is it. for her to be convicted and go to. prison? Is it for her to lose her. license? What are you hoping justice. looks like in this case? My biggest is. that this is going to raise awareness.

Don't take the law in your own hands. For one, um, we as adults and drivers, we need to be more responsible than. that. For one, two, I want these kids to. see that there there are crazy people. out there. You know, whether you do. something or not, you might come into. the situation, what to do, what not to. do with it. I'm glad that she was. arrested and that she's going to be held.

accountable, but as far as, you know, I. want. I'm not the law. I'm not above the law. I don't know what kind of charges. I. don't I mean, I don't know what kind of. sentences or anything that comes with. this, but I just want her to be able to. realize, you know, you can't do this. You can't do this to. kids because. you disagreed with the speed limit that. he was doing bikes. His bike is a class.

two. Max speed is 25. And that's really. really pushing it. On average, he goes. 18 to 20. If that, you know, she should have called the. law. Maybe she should have recorded him. Maybe she should have followed him from. a safe distance on the road legally. and. then came to the door, hey, you know, I. just want to let you know your son is. driving way too fast through the. neighborhood or whatever it may be, you.

know, and all of this could have been. avoided. You you would have been open to. having a conversation with her if she. absolutely a mom and I would be that mom. that would not chase him, but follow. from a safe distance and then knock on. the door. Hey ma'am, I just want to let. you know, you know, your kid ran out in. front of me. I'm just looking out for. his safety. Can you, you know, talk to. him about that? Because luckily it. didn't happen this time, but if he. continues this, this may happen, right?

And I'm not saying Gage did that, but. that would be my approach. Adam, what. would you say to her if you had the. opportunity to talk to her and. understand why she allegedly did what. she did? I would just want to know what. that splitsecond decision was that she. decided to be above the law. That's that would be my understanding. Uh that's what I I guess that would give. me closure. because that that was a split second. when you chose to take your car.

somewhere where it's not supposed to be. I just want to see I just want to know. the thought process that went through. Well, listen, Adam, Christina, the most. important thing is your son's okay. He's. mean physically okay. Um this is such a. distressing situation. When I saw the. video, it was shocking to say the least. Um, we'll continue to follow the case, see how it progresses in the legal. system. I I really appreciate you taking. the time, particularly right after. something like this happening. Um, you. know, to talk a little bit more about.

it. And also, you know, I know how. difficult this is, but I what I didn't. realize how difficult this is in light. of your loss. And again, I'm just so. sorry for what you and your family uh. have gone through. Um, but I really. really appreciate it. And you taking the. time also to respond to the people. online and set the record straight. So, uh, again, um, you have an open forum as. this case progresses. Would love to talk. to you further. Um, and I'm wishing you. all the best moving forward. Thank you. very much. Thank you so much. And that's. all we have for you right now here on. Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much.

for joining us. And as always, please. subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your. podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to. you next time. [Music].