SHERWOOD, Ark.- A Sherwood mom whose son has been the victim of bullying before says she’s disturbed after her son’s bike was stolen over the weekend.
Nichole Bruorton says she’s thankful her 9 year old son, Alex wasn’t hurt in the incident, at least not physically. But she says what happened is likely to leave another emotional scar.
“As much as he’s been through, it’s just one more thing,” says Bruorton.
Alex’s Sunday started out well with a neighborhood wide Nerf war. Unfortunately things went South later that day when he was riding his bike and says it was stolen by some older kids.
“They said ‘can I borrow your bike’ I said ‘no’,” says Alex. “They asked me again and I said ‘no’.”
Alex says it didn’t end there.
“That second they pushed on my neck and made me just hit on the ground while they took my bike ,” says Alex.
He’s no stranger to bullying. In fact last October things had gotten so bad that a huge group of bikers gathered in Sherwood to rally against bullying in Alex’s honor. They even escorted him to school along with police.
On Sunday when two police cars pulled up to his mother’s house with her son and the officers told her what happened, Nichole’s heart sank.
“Kids are cruel, but this was a little bit beyond that,” says Bruorton.
Sherwood police were able to find the bike that same day, but it wasn’t quite the same.
“Parts of it were missing,” says Alex. “My handle grips, my front pegs and my great grandfather’s 1960 Swiss Army knife [were all gone].”
Alex thinks the thieves should have to do community service for the rest of the summer, but Nichole isn’t sure what punishment fits the crime.
“I just want to feel safe in my own neighborhood, and I want my kid to be safe,” says Bruorton.
“That’s not right for them to do,” says Alex. “They should know better than to do stuff like that.”
SPD says when they stopped the kid who had the bike, he told them he was allowed to borrow it.
Nichole says there isn’t likely to be any repercussions for the kids responsible.
