Woman steals child's bicycle from Polk City library, deputies say

POLK CITY (FOX 13) - Polk County deputies are looking for an Auburndale woman who stole a 12-year-old boy’s bike while he was at the Polk City Library last week.

It happened Monday afternoon. Riley Pizarro said he rode his bike to the library on South Bougainvillea Avenue.

Surveillance video shows the woman allegedly stealing the bicycle a short time later.

“I thought someone was playing a prank on me,” Riley Pizarro told FOX 13. “I walked around the building because I thought someone was hiding it.”

Then reality set in.

“It felt scary,” he said. “I didn’t have a way to get home.”

A librarian took Riley home. But then, a few hours later, she returned and gave him a brand new bike – along with a lock.

“That was pretty special,” Riley’s mom Sarah said. “That was a good ending for something that sucked.”

The alleged bicycle thief has been identified as 28-year-old Kourtni Jean Wheeler. She is described as a white female, about 5’7 tall, weighs 110 pounds, has a thin build and blonde hair. Police say she has been arrested on drug and grand theft charges before.

Anyone with information on Wheeler’s whereabouts is asked to call Detective Leblanc at 863-577-1600. An anonymous tip can be submitted to Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-8477 or www.heartlandcrimestoppers.com.