Bikers, Friends & Family Send Off Bristol Twp. Teen For U.S. Navy

January 29, 2025

On Sunday afternoon at 1:45 p.m., while other families in the area were gearing up for the Philadelphia Eagles NFC Championship game, more than 50 motorcyclists, firemen, friends and family gathered on Arthur Avenue to send off Antonio Jimenez.

Jimenez, 19, of Bristol Township, would be leaving Monday for boot camp for the United States Naval Academy. His mother, Wendy, had mentioned this accomplishment months back to her coworker Joe Hanak.

Antonio Jimenez, 19, of Bristol, is greeted by local bikers, firemen, friends and family on Sunday afternoon. Jimenez would be leaving Tuesday for the United States Naval Academy. Credit: Maxwell Reil/LevittownNow.com

Hanak, 50, of Levittown, will often work with local bikers and first responders to organize motor brigades for veterans, police, and military. They call these events “mug and hugs” where they will ride through the neighborhood, congratulate the individual, and thank them for their service. At 1 p.m., about 30-40 bikers assembled at the Wawa on Bath Road. They then headed to the Jimenez’s home to cheer on the family.

Bikers cruised around the street, underneath a massive American flag (courtesy of Rob’s Towing), revving their bikes as they passed the family and waved.

Wendy Jimenez said she was in awe of the act of kindness for her son Antonio.

“When [Joe] told me about the idea, I started to cry. It’s really something special,” she said.

While Jimenez was grateful for the crowd of strangers honoring her son, she said she was, above all else, proud of Antonio for such an accomplishment.

While Antonio has dealt with dyslexia, the fact that he was accepted into the naval academy made his mother overjoyed.

“I support his patriotism, and I support his drive to get a career going,” she said. “He overcame so many things, and for him to choose this path, and myself growing up as a military brat, I do support it.”

After everyone had “mugged and hugged” Antonio, he stood among a crowd of bikers, donning leather vests covered in club and military patches. He was brief, but he was clear for who he wanted to thank the most.

“Mom and Dad: I want to thank you both for getting me through all of this. You guys gave it all. I am very grateful… I’m getting teary,” he said as he put his head down.

Jeff Coley is a member of the Warriors Watch Riders. He said that Hanak had reached out to him in October regarding the event. They then began to spread the word across Facebook to attract other biker clubs.

“We started really putting the plan together after Christmas,” said Coley, 56, of Langhorne. “We’re a bunch of people that love veterans and police officers and first responders. This was absolutely an event we wanted to take part in.”

Other clubs included the Pennsylvania Punishers, the New Jersey Punishers, the EMS Angels, local privateers, and other clubs. Tullytown Fire Company was also on hand for the event.

“We are friends with Joe Hanak and he reached out to the fire company and we support these events no matter where they’re at. We’re all big supporters of the military, and we have a lot of military personnel in our department, so we wanted to come out for something like this,” said Jon Nees, Chief of Tullytown Fire Company.