Officer replaces child's stolen Christmas gift

PALMETTO (FOX 13) - Eli Krick pedals his heart out. His smile is just about as wide as they come, but last week his smile was turned upside down when someone stole his bike.

The 7-year-old had just gotten the bike for Christmas.

"When I came out in the morning, it was just gone," he said."I was mad and sad."

Eli's mom, Lindsey called the Palmetto Police Department.

"It made me really angry since it was a children's bike. It was still brand new. It still had the cardboard in the spokes. They would have had to have known," she said.

Officer Jason Schroeder took the report of the stolen bike.

"I have a 4-year-old and I know my kid would be heartbroken if someone had stolen his bike," he said.

Officer Schroeder took the report and left, but he couldn't stop thinking about Eli and he couldn't stop thinking about the bike that had been stolen.

"I was thinking about what I could do. I put it on Facebook. I'm also a member of the Hernando Desoto Historical Society and one of our members of USA Fence said hey lets go buy this kid a new bike," he said.

Less than an hour after they reported the bike stolen, Officer Schroeder showed up with a brand new one.

"Protect and serve: This is one aspect of serving the community," said Officer Schroeder.

Eli is back peddling faster than ever and he's grateful for Officer Schroeder's help.

"They didn't have to. They really did go above and beyond. I'm really thankful for it," said his mom Lindsey.