BURNEY: Child’s stolen bicycle causes outcry, offers to help

BURNEY — Burney and Johnson Park residents are expressing anger and frustration over the theft of a boy’s bicycle from a local business earlier today. The bike was stolen from in front of Dollar General, at the intersection of Main St. and Mountain View Rd, in Burney.

Calling the theft “outrageous,” the boy’s mother later explained her son had gone into the store to buy just one item, which the store happened to be out of, only to return moments later and find his bike already gone.

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Area residents first learned of the theft after Burney resident Connie Telford shared a post about the incident on Facebook’s “What’s Happening In Burney, CA?.”

Calling the theft “unreal,” Telford said she was inside the store when she learned of the troubling incident.

The victim’s mother, Amber Wheeler, was the first person to respond to Telford’s post, and called the incident “outrageous.”

“Some people only think of themselves and feel that everyone owes them something,” Wheeler explained.

According to the frustrated mom, her son reported the theft to the store’s manager, “but apparently the bike was in a spot that the camera didn’t get,” Wheeler later explained while speculating, “The person who took it must know where the cameras are.”

Although she was not able to locate any photographs of the bicycle, she described it as a black, BMX-type bike, with purple rims, and a bright yellow firefighter sticker on the handle bars, which may have been removed by the thief.

“Some people just don’t care about anyone but themselves or who they are hurting by taking things that are not their own,” Wheeler later lamented. While she hopes her son is able to get the bike back, she intends on purchasing a bike lock to keep a similar incident from happening in the future.

Although the Dollar General did not manage to capture the incident via their store’s security cameras, other area residents quickly suggested Wheeler check with other surrounding businesses, including nearby Chevron and Safeway, as well as Leo’s Propane and USA Gas across the street, all of which have exterior, CCTV security cameras.

One woman who is employed at one of the businesses even offered to check the business’s recordings for Wheeler and another area resident offered to drive around looking for the stolen bike, but later reported finding no trace of it.

Based out of Johnson Park, Shasta County News Source/SCNS is now offering to reward a gift card or certificate for a dinner for two at a local restaurant or a certificate that can be redeemed at any other Burney or Johnson Park business to anyone who provides information that leads to the return of the victim’s bicycle and/or prosecution of the person who stole it.

Visit thebestbikelock.com for more information about bike locks built to deter even the most determined bicycle thieves.

Anyone with information about the stolen bike is encouraged to contact Burney Sheriff’s Station at (530) 245-6070. Callers can remain anonymous.

 

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 47, recently moved to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations, including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook, as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and The Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.