Scooter Patrol a safe ride

Seal Beach man invents creative
solution to curb drunk driving

By MICHAEL PARKER
SPECIAL TO WESTSIDE WEEKLY

SEAL BEACH – Looking haggard and worn down, Anthony Panzica takes a long swig of his coffee.
“This is my third one today,” Panzica says, holding up the Starbucks beverage, “and I’m still barely hanging on.”
It’s a Sunday night at 8 p.m., and Panzica’s weekend has consisted of dealing with many intoxicated barflies and party animals from all over Orange and Los Angeles counties. But he’s not a bouncer.
Panzica is the founder of Scooter Patrol, a free safe-ride service. Using a scooter, Panzica zips off to the client’s location. Then, after accompanying them to their vehicle, Panzica folds up his scooter, puts it in the trunk and drives the client back home, safe and sound. Westside Weekly followed Panzica for a night to see Scooter Patrol in action first-hand.

8 p.m. “It’s been quite the eventful weekend. When it gets hotter outside business really picks up, “ Panzica says. “Ipicked up 5 five people in Beverly Hills sometime before 5 o’clock,” Panzica adds, describing the previous day. “The last one I drove back out to Thousand Oaks. Her husband wasn’t too happy when he saw me pull up with her in the car.” Panzica grinned with familiarity. “That tends to happen a lot,” he said.

8:10 p.m. Next stop is Mahe’, a popular Seal Beach restaurant and bar, where a group of college students are celebrating graduation. Panzica says Sundays usually aren’t busy nights, but with summer kicking off, that will soon change.
Mahe’ was bustling with customers, but since no calls had come his way yet, Panzica takes a more proactive approach.
“There’s usually one person who needs me somewhere, whether they want to admit it or not,” he says, scanning the bar crowd.

8:25 p.m. The Scooter Patrol mastermind stops to talk about the company’s origins. The company began in the Fall of 2003, with Panzica zipping around town on a borrowed scooter with a flashlight taped to the handlebars. “We didn’t get many calls, and for awhile I was really worried. I’ve always been open minded for business ideas though, so I stuck with it,” says panzica. Now almost two years later, Scooter Patrol is sponsored by companies including Toyota of Huntington Beach, Comscape Communications, www.goped.com, and Kanvas By Katin Surf Shop. Volunteer drivers and dispatchers also help him out.

9:09 p.m. Panzica moves on to O’Malleys Pub on Main Street. The number of bars on Main Street makes it a prime spot for scooting, but tonight, it’s nearly deserted.

9:14 p.m. The Scooter Patrol hotline rings, and ironically, the caller is a customer back at Mahe’.

9:21 p.m. Once at the restaurant, the client is easy to find and glad to see his savior. “I’ll be ready in ten minutes,” he says.
A familiar scene plays out in front of Panzica after the client disappears from view. “This is typical,” he said. “Ten minutes is never ten minutes.”

10:01 p.m. The client is finally ready to leave, and Panzica grabs his scooter and loads it up in the trunk. This trip will be to downtown Huntington Beach, and he will scoot back down Pacific Coast Highway.

11:10 p.m. Panzica returns from dropping off the client. :”I was pulled over on the way back,” he says. It doesn’t happen that often, and I think (the cops) are curious. …I gave him a card after he found out that everything was up to standards, and he sent me on my way. “As I started up my scooter again, he called out to me. “Keep up the good work!”