Bothered

So we have a couple neighbor boys that I like to call hooligans and they have the potential to become hoodlums.  Either that or lawyers.  I think of them as Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn kind of boys.  And they can be mean.  They are not stupid and they know how far not to push things.  The little woman will go out to play and if they bother her too much she comes back in and does her thing.  The little man fights back and two minutes later they are all fine.  They are never disrespectful to me.  And sometimes I think it is good for kids to learn how to deal with some stuff on their own.  I'm watching, but not always involved.
So last night another boy had borrowed the little man's bike.  We finally went to retrieve it.  Well that boy was still out riding it so we just told his people to make sure he returns it.  We were almost home when we ran into him, the hooligans, another boy and another girl.  He gave the bike back and they went on their way....no biggie.
Until one of my neighbors comes up to me and I didn't even recognize her at first.  She wanted to know what the group was up to and if they were cursing.  I don't know what they were up to and I tend to tune groups of kids out.  I don't need to be bothered by what they are talking about.  She proceeded to tell me how the hooligans had been hitting my little man a couple of days ago making him scream.  My little man was still there and neither confirmed nor denied that action.  He only tattles when it benefits him or gets his sister in trouble.  Then she tells me those kids are terrible and she can't believe their mother lets them run the streets after all the destruction of property they have done.
Wait....what?  I have lived here almost two years and have heard nothing of any destruction of property, other than my little man's scooter.  And that would be between me and their mother and it is a non-issue.  I know the cops have been called many many times, mostly by another neighbor and I never knew why, but I take all of that with a grain of salt.   
My neighbor is in education and works at my kids school.  I am bothered by her calling an eight year-old and an 11 year-old terrible kids.  They are not terrible kids.  I don't know ANY terrible kids.  And I heard the judgment of their mother.  A single parent doing the best she can.  I don't see any of the other neighbors ever lending her a hand.  Our neighborhood is not our village.  And that is sad because I sure could use the village and I'm sure the hooligan's mom could also.  Their mom is the only one who has helped me in dealing with my little man and a meltdown.  And if they talk about them like that, I can imagine what they say about us.  Afterall we are the house that had the gun incident.