Driver, teen and parents arrested after e-bike incident in Taco Bell parking lot

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- A driver in a Taco Bell parking lot reportedly crashed their car into two teens who were wreaking havoc on an e-bike, leading to four arrests, authorities said. On May 12, Vancouver police said they responded to the Taco Bell at 15610 NE Fourth Plain after reports of a disturbance and a crash in the parking lot. Officers said they learned that two 16-year-olds had been driving through the parking lot, harassing people, damaging cars, and stopping one car from leaving. The car's driver -- 38-year-old Charles Thorsen -- eventually hit the bike, throwing both teens to the ground, where one of them was also run over by the car. That teen was seriously injured, sustaining a compound leg fracture, authorities said. Police say the other teen took off after smashing a mirror on the car and slashing the tires. According to a police report, Thorsen said he was "Only intending to on knocking some sense into the children." The officer on the scene also noted a Taco Bell worker claimed Thorsen told her, "I'm going to run them over, I'm serious." Thorsen was arrested on suspicion of vehicular assault and the uninjured teen fled the scene. Days later, court documents say police coincidentally went to the teen's home for a child welfare visit when he didn't go to school for nearly two weeks. When they tried to arrest him, his mother intervened by spraying an officer with a hose. She was arrested for third-degree assault. Both the teen and his father were then taken into custody for obstruction, with the teen also facing a charge for second-degree malicious mischief. The injured teen's condition is currently unknown. People who work in the strip mall where the incident occurred told KOIN 6 News teens on e-bikes have become a huge problem in their area and they aren't surprised someone got hurt. "They're always in the middle of the road doing wheelies," said Maddison Barnhart, a manager with The Human Bean. "Just all sorts of dumb stuff. And I figured it would happen at one point." Vancouver police say they are seeing a spike in calls to 911 about teens riding recklessly on these bikes due to the warm weather and the growth in popularity.