It looks like the Grinch hit early this year.
A man with cerebral palsy has had his only means of transportation taken away after thieves stole his tricycle at the end of November.
Red Deer City RCMP and Central Alberta Crime Stoppers are asking for the public’s assistance in locating the specialty tricycle that went missing on Nov. 29 between 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. from outside an apartment building in the 4800 block of 55th Street in downtown Red Deer.
Don Melvin, 49, bought his tricycle in June for $900. It had been locked to a set of stairs outside his apartment with a cable lock and thieves cut the cable and made off with the tricycle.
Melvin had gone to church in the morning and arriving home he noticed his trike was still there. At 3 p.m., one of his neighbours knocked on his door to say he thought the trike had been stolen.
The blue Parklane tricycle has a white basket and has Parklane written on the side.
Melvin used the tricycle in the summer to travel along a route close to the Kerry Wood Nature Centre in order to loosen up his legs, which are stiff as a result of the cerebral palsy he has had since he was a child. He even rode the trike in a bike-athon during the summer. When not on his trike, Melvin gets around using a walker.
“Maybe in the summer I won’t be able to exercise as much. I like to ride it once in a while,” Melvin said. “Just to know I paid for it out of my own money. Now it’s gone and I’ve got to start all over again.”
He is asking whoever took the tricycle to return it to him.
“It being this close to Christmas makes it even tougher,” he said.
Melvin had planned to store the tricycle in a friend’s garage for the winter but hadn’t yet moved it inside when it was taken. He said it was sickening for him when he found out it was gone.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Red Deer City RCMP at 403-343-5575 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or go to www.tipsubmit.com
Anyone who wants to help can call Melvin at 403-309-5518.
sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com