Couple’s surveillance cameras damaged after disputes with ATV riders

Reporter: Gail Levy Writer: Drew Hill
Published: Updated:

The last thing a couple saw on their surveillance camera before it was smashed was a masked person holding a baseball bat. But, this isn’t the first time ATV riders had come onto the couple’s property.

The image is frozen in their minds. Shri and Mary Cheddie were terrified to see a bat heading straight for their lens. “Horrible, it’s like some violent movie on TV,” the couple said.

Shri and Mary moved into their Bonita Springs home in August of 2020. THe
Cheddies say they chose this house for peace and the relaxation that the nature around them brought. “I mean, every morning I wake up and I think, we live here. This is ours,” they said. 

So they aren’t happy to share that serenity with ATVs. “In a lot of cases, my husband will go out and talk to them and let them know that they can’t ride out there. And they’ll say, ‘oh, they didn’t know.’ And in many cases, those folks don’t come back,” they said.

But the Cheddies believe one group of ATV riders wasn’t too thrilled about being shooed off the property. “It’s these guys that are wearing a full mask. They disregard us they… they continue to… to ride, and it’s actually it’s terrorizing.”

That pure terror was what drove the couple to call the sheriff’s office in hopes that they could send deputies to patrol. Now, they’re hoping someone recognizes these masked people and that they’re caught.

“You’re not supposed to be on our property. The cameras are there for a reason. And they need to follow the rules like everybody else,” the couple said. 

Their dream, just like everyone else’s, is to enjoy the land they live on.

The couple told WINK News that they would be replacing the broken security cameras with new ones. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has been out to the property to survey the damage.

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