Community Rallies To Replace Elderly Sacramento Woman's Stolen Tricycle

EAST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — An elderly woman's tricycle was stolen, and the wheels of justice are turning slowly to solve this crime.

The three-wheeled cycle was 75-year-old Pat Ramsey's main mode of transportation. Just listening to her talk about it might remind you of being a kid again.

"Ruby is my friend, she's not my best friend, but she is my friend. And we went everywhere together," she said.

Ruby is the trike, red and shiny and treated like a classic car.

"She lived in my garage, she was very well taken care of, and she just had a tune up," Ramsey said.

She got Ruby five years ago as a way to exercise and get around East Sacramento, and Pat rode Roby everywhere.

"Used it for doctors appointments, haircuts, dental appointments," she said.

But on Saturday, Pat rode her trike perhaps for the last time. She went to McKinley Park to get some exercise in the pool for a couple of hours. When she came out, she found out someone cut her lock and stole the trike she loved so much right from under her nose.

"Lost my appetite totally, I was nervous, I was upset. Emotional," she said.

Word got out about the stolen tricycle, and that's when her trainer Greg White stepped in.

"What can we do right now. First you want to run down the street and see if you can find the bike or tell all of your neighbors about it," he said.

And he did, through the Nextdoor app that gives people a way to sound off about what's going on in their neighborhood.

Within a couple of days, people wanted to help, posting on the site they would donate to get Pat rolling on three wheels again.

"It really is touching, and it makes the social media really something that works," he said.

More than $600 has been raised to help her buy a new tricycle.

Getting Ruby back would be the best-case scenario, but Pat is more than thrilled that complete strangers have offered to help.

"Iit makes the dastardly deed a lot easier to swallow," she said.

A police report has been filed for the stolen trike, but no arrests have been made yet. Pat says if she gets a new Trike, she will name it Scarlet.