Boy with cerebral palsy's custom tricycle stolen
BURBANK, Calif. -- Burbank police are looking for a man seen on surveillance video taking a customized tricycle that belonged to a 13-year-old boy who has cerebral palsy, reports CBS Los Angeles.
Investigators released security video of the man, who allegedly broke into a secure garage at 4:15 a.m. Saturday, and took the tricycle, which was locked along with the boy's wheelchair.
The 13-year-old was born with cerebral palsy. He said riding the tricycle gives him a chance to feel like he fits in with his peers and allows him to temporarily forget he has a disability.
"People, when I talk to them, they either look at my feet or look at my wheelchair, and they talk to the wheelchair. With the bike, some of that went away," the boy said in an interview with CBS Los Angeles.
His mother, Allesha Jeffries, raises him while working nights as a nurse.
"It just gave him the freedom to be like the other kids, just to be one of them. He's so different in so many aspects of his life that this one area that this bike allow him to be. It's like a lifeline for these kids," Jeffries said.
The tricycle costs $5,000, which was paid for with a $1,000 grant and $4,000 in donations.
The case is being treated as a felony, because the tricycle is worth $5,000, said Sgt. Claudio Losacco of the Burbank Police Department.