San Antonio-based Blue Duck is responding to a Facebook post showing two of the company’s rental scooters in Corpus Christi Bay.
“We’re disappointed, but we’re not shocked,” Blue Duck Chief Marketing Officer Elizabeth Houston said.
The Corpus Christi case is one of dozens of examples of rental scooter vandalism across the country. There’s even an Instagram page dedicated to it called Bird Graveyard, referring to another scooter company called Bird.
“Bird investigates all reports of vandalism and takes appropriate measures, including working with law enforcement and removing people from our platform,” a Bird spokesperson said in written statement.
People vandalizing rental scooters have some riders concerned that Bird and Blue Duck might pull their scooters out of Corpus Christi.
“I hope they keep them, because they’re a lot of fun,” rider Hector Delgado said.
Houston says Blue Duck has filed a police report over its scooters getting dumped in the bay, but she didn’t say anything about the company leaving Corpus Christi. Quite the contrary actually.
“A lot of [Blue Duck employees] spent plenty of time growing up going down to Corpus,” Houston said. “We really see it as a sister sort of a city, and we’re really excited to be down there.”
Blue Duck wouldn’t release what it pays for each of its scooters, but a spokesperson said comparable scooters can be found online for between $200 and $400. Corpus Christi Police say that price is important when determining what level of criminal mischief charges the vandal could face.
“The charge would depend on the price of the item that was damaged,” Lieutenant Michael Pena said. “Anywhere from a Class C Misdemeanor all the way up to a felony.”
