Viral Boca Raton E-Bike Altercation Leads to Second Arrest

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]The viral WestBoca e-bike confrontation that already landed one man in jail this week has now led to a second felony arrest.

[00:00:07]>> Yeah, the second suspect also seen in that video going after a boy whose e-bike riding had reportedly upset some of the residents in the neighborhood.

[00:00:14]Well, CBS 12 News reporter Katie Bentie joining us live tonight just outside the Palm Beach County Jail with the latest development in this case.

[00:00:24]Well, Jim and Liz, what started as just a neighborhood argument over a kid on an e-bike quickly became that viral video where you can hear the child yelling for his a phone back. And now fast forward, we are here outside the Palm Beach County Jail where a second man has now been booked on felony charges.

[00:00:40]Give me my phone.

[00:00:42]No hands.

[00:00:43]Give me my phone. Dude, get your hands off of him. For more than 6 minutes, a 13-year-old is heard desperately trying to get his phone back while adults surround him inside the gated Lotus community in WestBoca Raton. But before the phone came the e-bike argument.

[00:01:00]Investigators say Mitchell Shuman accused the teen of riding recklessly through the neighborhood. If they're all fine, I guess you don't have any authority to do anything.

[00:01:09]Security does. Now more than eight months later, a 53-year-old Ari Brooks, seen in the black shirt and sunglasses, has now been booked on the same four charges that landed Shuman behind bars.

[00:01:21]Battery, petty theft, criminal mischief, and felony robbery by sudden snatching.

[00:01:26]In a newly released police reports, investigators say the video helped build the case. Here, give me the phone. Here, Brooks appears to take the phone, then walks into the street with the child following right behind him, still asking for his phone back. Dude, it's ringing.

[00:01:41]Give me my phone. Can you tell me where you live? It's ringing.

[00:01:45]Detectives accuse Brooks of a purposely withholding the phone while making no effort to return it. And under Florida law, that moment can turn a phone grab into a felony. Robbery by sudden snatching a unique charge where the person is not using number one a weapon, number two violence, number three threats of violence, um but they're taking it more in a stealthful, um non-violent manner. The third-degree felony is punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

[00:02:26]Now we did reach out for to Brooks for comment, but we have not heard back yet.

[00:02:29]And at this time it appears only Brooks and Schuman have been arrested and charged in this case. It's unclear whether any of the other adults seen in those videos will be charged. Live from the Palm Beach County Jail, I'm Kitty Benty, CBS 12 News.