Boy, 7, and his new bike separated by thieves

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Excitement over a Clovis Student's first day of school quickly fizzled after the seven year old discovered his ride home had been stolen from the school's bike rack. The theft happened Monday at Garfield Elementary in Clovis and turned the second grader into a young crime victim.

A picture taken just before Adam Smart's first day of second grade shows him smiling next to his bike at Garfield Elementary. By the time classes ended, it had disappeared. "I was like, 'Where'd my bike go?' I was just so sad that they stole it," said Smart.

Clovis Unified Police are investigating the first day of school theft. To get to the bike, the thief had to walk onto the school campus. Adam's dad was told someone saw it happen but they were unable to catch up to the suspect.

Just last weekend, Adam and his dad bought a new lock for the bike. When someone cut that lock they didn't just spoil Adam's first day of school -- but also months of plans. "We rode to school for the first day of school, which we had planned on doing all summer long. We were going to ride our bikes to school every day," said Brandon Smart.

As news of the theft spread across campus, parents expressed disbelief and concern about the unintended lesson children are getting about crime. "If they find that somebody just comes in and take's somebody's bike, growing up they might think it's easy for me to take someone else's as well," said parent Rafael Maciel.

"When you can't even leave your property locked up somewhere without getting it stolen, it's a pretty big bummer," said Brandon Smart.

For the second day of second grade, Adam had to be dropped off at school Tuesday. But he remained hopeful he'll get his bike back. "I just liked it so much. It was just so cool. I just wish they wouldn't steal it,' the seven year old said.

Fortunately, Adam didn't have to go too long without a bike. After hearing about his stolen bike, Mike Brandon with "Mike's Bikes" purchased a bike and delivered it to the Smart's home. Mike Brandon said the mission of "Mike's Bikes" is to provide bike theft victims a new or refurbished bicycle.

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crimetracker, theft, fresno county, clovis, local, amanda perez

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