Local BMX track suffers $9,000 in damage after bullfighters go on joyride in stolen golf cart
Published at | Updated at
IDAHO FALLS — A local non-profit BMX group is dealing with over $9,000 in damages after two rodeo contestants took a joyride on a stolen city golf cart through their track Friday night.
Security footage from Snake River BMX in Idaho Falls shows two men on a golf cart tearing through the track and destroying the raceway next to Sandy Downs after the War Bonnet Roundup.
Idaho Falls city spokesman Eric Grossarth confirmed the two men were bullfighters brought to Idaho Falls to compete at the rodeo.
The men’s names have not been released, but Idaho Falls Police Department spokesperson Jessica Clements confirms that they were both cited with misdemeanor criminal trespass with damage greater than $1,000.
Grossarth says the bullfighters took a city golf cart on a joyride after finding the keys in the cart.
“Unfortunately, someone left a key in a city golf cart,” says Grossarth. “We’ve had some discussions with individuals after that to make sure they take them out. We give that disclaimer to everybody after they check out a golf cart, but a key was left in a golf cart.”
Grossarth says the city and its Parks and Recreation Department are working with Snake River BMX to fix the damage.
“We always want to be respectful of everybody. I know there is some concern over the damage being done, Grossarth says. “… We had staff working with them to identify those involved and try to make that right.”
Cody Norris, the track operator for Snake River BMX, says the damage is more complex than most people think and estimates it will cost over $9,000 to fix.
“Last year, we had the track rebuilt by a professional guy that travels around the world for USA BMX. People don’t understand how intricate the track has to be,” says Norris. “Just the slightest miscalculation in the track, like dust or dirt, these kids are on the edge of their tires. They can hit that, or a soft spot, and it can be catastrophic. It can break their collar bones.”
Snake River BMX, a non-profit that hosts races multiple times a week for racers as young as two years old to adults trying to qualify for the Olympics, has had to cancel all events for at least the next week while they work through how to fix the damage.
“(The bullfighters) called and tried to talk to me, and they said they’d come out with shovels and help me, but I told them that’s not how this works,” said Norris. “The city and Parks and Recreation offered to come help, and it’s like, that’s awesome, but really and truthfully, I can’t use you guys because of the way they tore it up; I have to have certain people that know how to build the rollers and make the angles just right.”
According to Norris, the track has to be intricately packed and set, using multiple layers, to ensure the riders’ safety.
“It’s a lot of work, and you have to know what you’re doing,” says Norris. “It’s like finishing work on concrete, if it isn’t set up the right way, I might as well not do it.”
Norris says the BMX workers are all volunteers, who maintain the track and organize races after work for the love of the sport.
“People think we get paid, and we don’t. It’s all volunteer. I work out at the site, and I work 14 hours days, and then I go do the track full time on my days off,” says Norris. “It’s just hard. It’s really, really hard to hear the comments people make about ‘Just toss dirt on it’ and not understanding the significance of BMX and the intricate parts of it.”
Norris hopes the bullfighters will be charged for the damages they caused and thanks the community for the overwhelming support on social media.
“I’m glad that the community has gotten behind us like this, because there have even been people (helping) that are not inside the BMX community,” say Norris. “For me, it’s holding people accountable, educating the public that BMX is not a club, and it takes a lot more (work) than a lot of people think.”