TACOMA, Wash. — A little boy in the South Sound is devastated after the cherished motorbike he’d saved up for and bought with his own money was stolen over the weekend.
Michael Vandervoort showed me where his little boy's motorbike was sitting in the garage - before a thief broke in - and stole it on Saturday evening.
“I had to explain to my son and he was really confused, sad, upset about everything,” Michael Vandervoort explained. “He didn’t really understand.”
His son, Carson, is just 5 years old.
“He took a major interest in dirt bikes and motorcycles around the age of 3. He's been saving up his money, holiday money, doing chores around the house. He was committed to getting his dirt bike,” Vandervoort said. “He would always ask ‘do I have enough yet?’”
Vandervoort shared a smiling picture of his son taken right after he told him he'd saved just about enough money to buy the bike last year.
Once he had enough, Vandervoort surprised him with a Honda CRF50.
“Trying to teach him the values of earning something and he did just that. He earned it. He worked really hard,” Vandervoort added. “For someone to take that from him, it devastated me.”
Vandervoort's dad was home at the time.
“He heard the dirt bike start up and immediately taking off,” he said. “He ended up going outside and seeing someone on it going towards Keithley Middle School.”
Later that night, around midnight, someone else returned.
“The door was open,” Vandervoort said motioning towards the door of his Jeep Grand Cherokee. “The guy looked at me and they had a getaway car right behind here.”
His Jeep was rifled through.
Nothing was taken, though a surgical mask was left behind.
Strangely, when Carson's motorbike was taken, a bike was left behind in the garage.
Vandervoort is hoping it could be the key to finding the thief.
“Any type of tip, please reach out to us,” he said. “Because I would love to have my son's smile back on his face.”
He's shared the story on social media and he's not taking the crime sitting down.
“You took more than just a dirt bike,” he added emotionally. "It definitely confused him. He worked hard for it.”
He's just hoping the lessons he's trying to instill in his son aren't shattered by this heartless crime.
Cox Media Group
