WEST ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – Police in West St. Paul are asking for the public’s help in finding an adult tricycle that belongs to a man with autism.
The trike’s owner, Elliott Albright, doesn’t drive and relies on his trike to get him from his West St. Paul apartment to the nearest bus stop.
Albright told WCCO why it’s so important for him to get it back.
“I’m walking a lot more and it’s hard because I have limited mobility,” Albright said. “One of my legs, I do limp, so it harder for me, a lot harder to get around without that.”
The trike, made by Worksman, was stolen Saturday night from a bus stop on Robert Street Saturday night, even though it was chained to the post of the bus bench.
“I locked it up as I normally do and then…I caught my bus, went to where I volunteer. And so then when I got back around one, it wasn’t there,” he said. “So I figured it was fairly safe, as long as I kept it near some place so public. You wouldn’t think someone would be brazen enough to steal it on Robert Street in West St. Paul.”
(credit: CBS)
The tricycle, which has a wide seat and a basket on the back, is expensive – costing about $1,000. Elliott’s family got a grant from the county in order to pay for it.
“It’s limiting me on what I can do and how I do it. It’s really making it harder to do things,” he said. “I won’t let it stop me, but it will slow things down a bit.”
Elliot also has a message for the thief.
“I would just like it returned, and I am not interested in charges. I would just like my bike back,” he said.
West St. Paul Police Chief Bud Shaver says that it’s quite possible that who ever stole the trike abandoned it after taking it for a ride.
The trike could possibly be in a ditch or some other place visible to people passing by.
Elliott gave police the trike’s serial number, so it’s registered as stolen should someone try to sell it to a pawn shop.
Anyone with information is urged to contact West St. Paul Police.
