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Tricycle riding 10-year old charged for bike theft

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We’re always keen to bring you bike crime stories here on Going Going Bike but the following story of a bike theft by a tricycle-riding 10-year old is probably the most bizarre story we’ve ever brought you. This is no April Fool either, it actually happened in the US last week.

The story starts with the theft of a $400 bicycle from a garage in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The bike owner naturally reported that her bicycle had been stolen, along with her son’s air rifle to the Fort Walton Police Department.

When Fort Walton police officers visited the bike owner’s property to get details on the theft, the bike owner’s fiancé was able to give a description of a suspect. This suspect was described as a small boy on a tricycle. The fiancé had seen the boy hanging around the premises following the thefts.

Boy admits offence

Police trawled the neighbourhood for the boy and managed to find a boy fitting the fiancé’s description riding a kid’s tricycle a few blocks away from the theft victim’s house.

Following some questioning and a few porkies about what he had been doing around the victim’s house, the boy, a one Daryl Pitts, admitted to stealing the bike and air rifle from the victim’s garage. The victim had been able to give the police the serial number on the stolen bike and these numbers matched the bike that Daryl eventually admitted to having in his possession.

Tricycle getaway vehicle

Fort Walton Police confirmed that Daryl had returned to the scene of the crime three times, once to steal the gun, the second time to steal the $400 bike and lastly to recover his tricycle. The tricycle had been his crime getaway vehicle of choice.

The Fort Walton Police Department have charged Daryl for the burglary of the victim’s house in the hope that he gets help to correct his behaviour.

Is it harsh to charge this 10-year old boy for a crime for stealing the bike given his age?

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