Man thinks he may have unwittingly bought stolen trike

VIRGINIA BEACH

The grown man who used to be the little boy next door.

The neighborhood coffee shop.

The author of an inspirational book on three-wheeled bikes.

They all wanted to help 84-year-old Violet Blanton get a new tricycle. Blanton's hot pink trike with two baskets to carry her small dogs was stolen last week.

A newspaper story about the theft triggered an avalanche of support.

But, it turns out, Blanton might get her old bike back.

The day it was reported stolen, it also was, apparently, sold.

Dave Evans was driving along Euclid Road near Independence Boulevard on Thursday when he saw a man riding a pink adult trike.

"I pulled over and asked the guy where he got it and if he'd be interested in selling it," said Evans, who wanted the bike to ride with his 5-year-old son.

The man said it was his friend's mother's but that she recently had passed away, Evans said. The man said he would call his friend and stepped away. He came back and said he would sell it for $40, plus $4 for his trouble. Evans agreed.

The man rode the bike to Evans' nearby home, and Evans stored it in a neighbor's shed. Evans said he drove the man to an ATM machine to get the money and then dropped him off at a Sonic restaurant.

When Evans came home after work Saturday, the neighbor storing the bike held a newspaper.

"He said, 'Hey, come over and read this,' " Evans recalled.

It was an article about Blanton's stolen hot pink trike.

Evans called the newspaper and left a message saying he thought he might have unwittingly bought Blanton's stolen bike. He held off painting it blue over the weekend as he'd planned.

"I don't want her to be without her bike," Evans said Monday.

Meanwhile, neighbors and businesses had rallied to buy Blanton a new bike. Others offered to give her their trikes.

"This could be a sign," Jackie Wilburn told her husband. Her mother, who passed away recently, had loved to ride her raspberry-colored trike.

"We had just thought about what we were going to do with it," she said. "I just know she'd want it to go to someone who would enjoy it."

Jennifer Rusk, owner of Beach Brew coffee in Kempsville, started giving away free coffee Saturday morning in exchange for donations to buy Blanton a new bike.

"People were giving twenties, tens, fives. Within the first hour we made $100," she said. As of Monday afternoon, they'd raised $279, which she said she'd give to Blanton to buy a new lock or dog food if her bike turns up.

"I'm baffled over who would steal a three-wheel bike," said Rebecca Cummings Baldwin of Grandy, N.C., author of "Three Wheels," a recently published inspirational book about how a trike helped her come to terms with spinal cord degeneration. She offered to donate proceeds from her book to a new bike for Blanton. "If there's a three-wheeled bike that's out there, it's for a reason. It's because a person can't ride a two-wheel bike."

Stan Chapman, who grew up in the home next to Blanton in the '70s and '80s, called her for the first time in years "to find out if she got it back and help her get a new one."

Blanton was surprised by the community response.

"I feel funny about it," she said. "I just don't want to take their money. Honestly, everybody needs their money."

But she is excited about the prospect of getting her bike back.

Evans is hoping to bring it to her Wednesday. If she confirms it's hers, he'll leave it.

Everything - the color, the custom three-speed conversion kit, twin baskets and a loose fender bolt - seems to match. "I'd love to get it back," Blanton said. "I'd pay him something for it. I just want my old bicycle back."

Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122, aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com