A tricycle stolen from a disabled Peoria teen was returned to its owner Monday night.
STOLEN TRICYCLE LOCATED AND RETURNED TO OWNER, THANKS TO ALERT CITIZEN! THANKS FOR THE HELP! https://t.co/Q1kGY4EzhL pic.twitter.com/p8djmVTXHy
— Peoria Police (@PeoriaAzPS) December 1, 2015
The tricycle went missing around 6:35 p.m. Saturday from Christiano's Smith's home near Sweetwater and 83rd avenues.
Watch the surveillance video in the player above.
Monday night, authorities said someone called police after seeing the bike abandoned at a park nearby.
They brought the bike to the Peoria Police Department who returned it to Christiano.
Having his bike returned was the best news ever for Christiano who has seen his fair share of struggles.
“I wasn’t even able to lift my shoulders up until I was like four.”
He said his birth parents abused him as a baby, causing his disability, a quadriplegic.
“I was born completely normal,” he said. “And the abuse was so severe that it made me handicapped.”
Thanks to the help of a new, loving family and countless hours of therapy, Christiano is more mobile.
He began walking a few years back but mostly uses the custom tricycle to get around.
“My heart just sank because that’s his freedom,” his mom, Cindie Smith, said.
The red bike, a Delta Sun EZ-3 Recumbent, has custom modifications to fit Christiano and costs around $1,200.
That’s a lot of the reason why the bike wasn’t locked,” Cindie said. “Because physically he’s unable to do a lot of the locks that we’re familiar with.”
Christiano said he just wanted his wheels back. He said just like he had to forgive those who abused him, he has already forgiven whoever stole his tricycle.
“I just want my bike back. I don’t care if the guy gets caught or arrested. I could care less about that.”
Police say they have no suspect information at this time.
Christiano graduated from high school at age 16 and is now studying to be a motivational speaker.
He has a YouTube channel aimed at encouraging teens. You can check it out here.
