By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Eric Rine riding his handcycle around town is a familiar sight to many Bowling Green residents. During the pandemic, the bike has been a lifeline for the BGHS grad who is paraplegic.
But sometime Tuesday night, Rine’s specially made handcycle was stolen from the family’s van parked in their driveway on Byall Avenue.
Rine, 20, was home from college at University of Northwestern Ohio in Lima because his roommate had recently tested positive for COVID-19. His bike came home with him.
“It’s literally been his lifeline during COVID,” said his mom, Stephanie Rine. “He was all over the place. That is what gave him something to do for exercise.”
The family woke up today to find their three vehicles had been rifled through overnight.
Around 11 this morning, Bowling Green Police Division posted photos of three males with the handcycle in the Circle K parking lot downtown. Those images can be seen at https://twitter.com/BGPD_OH
“Everything was completely rummaged through,” Rine said of the family’s vehicles. “They dumped out everything from the glove boxes. They even popped the hood” of one of the vehicles.
The handcycle is normally kept in the van, so it’s easy for Eric to get it in and out. And normally, the van is locked overnight in the driveway. But someone forgot Tuesday night.
Stephanie Rine said Eric will be devastated, and she is left wondering who would take a handcycle.
“What are they going to do with a handcycle?” she said, estimating the bike cost more than $3,000 when the family purchased it for Eric. “Anything that’s adaptive equipment is expensive.”
“It’s really irreplaceable because they don’t make this type anymore,” she said. “It’s such a violation. It’s not just any old bike. It’s been a lifeline for him. He loves it.”
The theft was reported to police, and Eric’s dad has been searching the town this morning for the bike. Years ago, when one of their daughter’s bikes was stolen, the dad found it abandoned in an alley.
It’s a longshot, but the Rines are hopeful.
“My husband has been out on his bike riding through town, looking at alleys,” Stephanie Rine said.
Photos of the bike were posted on Facebook, in hopes that someone may notice it.
“If they try to sell it anywhere locally, anybody who has a handcycle, they probably know us,” Stephanie Rine said. “Everybody has seen Eric riding around town.”
Eric, who is now majoring in automotive technology at University of Northwestern Ohio, also uses the bike at school.
“He has enjoyed riding around campus,” his mom said.
If anyone sees the handcycle, Stephanie Rine asked that they call the Bowling Green Police Division.
“I’m hopeful. I’m always a hopeful person,” she said.
The same three males suspected for the handcycle theft are also believed to have broken into other vehicles overnight.
A resident of the 700 block of Second Street reported her unlocked vehicle had been entered by someone who took her purse which had her Michigan state identification, a credit card, and a Bowling Green State University soccer jacket.
A passerby noticed the police investigating the break-ins, and told the officer that he had seen three males looking in the vehicle.
As a police officer was talking to the resident, another person at the same location realized her vehicle had also been gone through, but nothing appeared to be missing.
Police also responded to the 200 block of Troup Street for a theft from another car. The unlocked vehicle had been entered and a Bluetooth radio was taken.
Police were also called to the 600 block of Second Street, where a vehicle registration and insurance card were taken from a vehicle.
