Cape Coral soccer fields torn apart by children riding dirt bikes

A park becomes the most recent victim of careless vandalism.

Two dirt bikes raced across the fields at Jim Jeffers Park in Cape Coral and damaged the fields.

Now, the city is working to find out what it will take to make repairs.

It happened Sunday night, as neighbors heard the dirt bikes speed past their homes and then onto the fields.

The city doesn’t seem overly concerned. They said that no significant damage was done and that “the facility will remain open to the public.”  

But the damage has raised concerns in the adjacent neighborhood.

Kids just want to have fun, but a neighbor told WINK that the two dirt bikers took it to the extreme, tearing through the dirt and grass.

“The grass is tore up in every direction,” said Warren Scouton, witness. “We walked over there this morning, and there’s clearly dirt bike spin marks from one end to the other.”

Scouton, who owns a home near the park, called WINK News about the incident.

“Well, I was sitting in my house, and I could hear two dirt bikes, shifting gears and going up and down, what it seemed like going up and down the street, and after about ten minutes of doing that, I decided to walk outside and see what was going on,” Scouton said.

Scouton said he then called 911 when he saw the two kids racing across the soccer fields on their dirt bikes before driving off.

He followed after them while staying on the phone with dispatchers. He said he called police because he was concerned.

“Cutting across those nice manicured lawns like that puts children at risk of breaking an ankle, a strain. Stepping into one of those ruts as they try to play ball. They don’t expect to drop into a trench from a dirt bike. In this case, many many trips. I saw those kids going back and forth for almost 15 minutes. I have to believe there had to be others call in from the community,” Scouton said.

Scouton said these soccer fields are often used every weekend for tournaments, but the parks department said it’s a practice field, so it won’t disrupt any future tournaments.