Donors replace boy’s bike that was stolen last month

An anonymous donor bought
Tyler Barney a new bike last week and dropped it off at the
Town of Bath Police Department. The boy’s bicycle had been
stolen from his front porch on February 8.

Police Chief Craig Pearrell and Lt. Lance Marshall presented the new bike to Barney at Widmyer Elementary on Friday afternoon, on behalf of the donor. The surprised and ecstatic boy described the gift as “awesome.”

Another anonymous donor brought a new bicycle to Barney’s home last week, as well. One of the bikes will stay at his dad’s house for when he visits.

Late last month, Barney placed an ad in The Morgan Messenger offering a $10 reward from his savings for the return of his bike.

The next week, a front-page story about the bike theft touched the hearts of many in the community who contacted the boy’s family, the police department and the newspaper with offers of a new bicycle and of adding to the reward money.

Covey Pro Wrestling invited the family to their wrestling match, asked Barney to tell his story to the crowd and offered money toward the reward.

Dr. Andrew Berens’ office collected money for decking out the new bike with lights and accessories.

Chief Pearrell said that after the story ran in The Messenger, their office received as many as 15 calls a day with offers of reward money and a new bike as well as numerous tips about the case.

While police followed many leads, searched some homes and pulled cars over, but there was no sign of the missing 18-to-20 inch gray Huffy “Rock It” bike with red rims, Pearrell said.

The community outpouring “shows how many good people we have in the community,” he said.

Emily Barney said everywhere they’ve gone, people have asked if he had gotten his bike back yet. The family went from disbelief that the bike had been stolen to having the whole town try to help them.

The best thing is that the boy will be able to ride bikes with his little brother again, said his grandmother Cindy Morris.

Barney also received a new helmet and a water bottle from the town police. Pearrell said they do a bicycle safety program and give away items like elbow pads, knee pads and other bike accessories.

They are still pursuing leads about the theft and are trying to recover the bicycle, Pearrell said.

Call Town Police at 304-258-1198 if you have any information about the stolen bike.