BOSTON (WHDH) - A Boston man with cerebral palsy says someone stole the battery from his motorized tricycle Tuesday.
Toby Thompson said he locked it up by a tree near TD Garden for a few hours Tuesday, but when he came back, the battery was gone.
Thomspon says the battery isn’t worth that much money, but to him, it’s priceless because he needs it to get around.
“I just felt a little shock, kind of disgusted,” Thompson said. “And just a realization that this is downtown. I live downtown and this happens.”
Thompson says he used this powered tricycle to get to his girlfriend’s West End apartment, locking it to a tree for a couple hours.
“We had a nice lunch, came back down two hours later, and it was gone,” he said. “The battery in the back of my basket was gone.”
That battery, Thompson says, has become somewhat of a lifeline. Not only did it help him get around, but he says it helped him rehabilitate after an injury left him unable to work.
“It’s going to be harder for me to get strength back to my knees because with the electric assist I can still pedal,” he said.
Police confirm they’re now looking for two men who were seen walking past the bike just before 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Thompson says he isn’t counting on getting the battery back but hopes to see these two come to justice.
“A bit of restitution to cover the costs would be nice,” he said. “But I definitely will press charges if I ever get that luxury.”
A GoFundMe account has been created to help alleviate the cost of a new battery.
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