A South Sound family is asking for the public’s help to track down the thieves who stole a paralyzed father's custom hand bike right out of his front yard.
Nathan Mann said he was in shock Friday morning when he woke up and realized his bike was gone.
"It's just disgusting how somebody could steal this bike. I mean, it's obviously not for a regular person,” he said.
Two and a half years ago, Mann broke his back while mountain biking.
He's now paralyzed from the waist down.
“It took away my livelihood. It took away everything and then I get this piece of freedom back. I bought this bike, and now somebody took it from me,” said Mann.
The black and green Sport-On Explorer III adaptive mountain bike is customized just for Mann. After his accident, he said, he took out a loan and saved up for the $14,000 bike.
“You don't sit on it like a regular bike. You don't pedal it like a regular bike. You use your arms for steering and pedaling,” he said. “It was freedom. It was peace, sanity -- you know? It offered so much to me," he said.
Mann said he loved riding the bike with his children.
“I'm a daddy's girl and I love going out and being with my dad and out doing what I love, so it’s just painful,” said Luna Mann.
Mann believes the thieves came in through the front fence, cut the locks off his bike and snuck out the back gate.
The Pierce County's Sheriff's Office is investigating the crime.
Mann said he just wants his bike back.
“I feel like all my freedoms have been stripped away. My sanity is kind of slipping. It's emotional,” he said.
Mann's friend has started a GoFundMe account to help raise money to buy Mann a new bike.
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