A man well known in Brantford for biking around the city and saying hello to everyone he meets has had his favourite bicycle stolen.
Brantford Police say the distinctive lime green-coloured bicycle was stolen Monday night from a plaza at Fairview Drive and West Street.
It belongs to Mike Crechiolo, who is known around town as 'Mike on a Bike' and enjoys all the attention that comes with that nickname.
“If you live in Brantford, you know who 'Mike on a Bike' is. He says hi to everybody,” says Terry Detheriege of The Bicycle Shop.
The Bicycle Shop is where Crechiolo took his bike whenever it needed a tune-up. Detheriege and his coworkers also helped raise the money so he could buy the bike.
While Crechiolo has multiple bikes, the lime green one is the one he likes to ride most often during the spring and summer.
He uses it not only to travel around the city, but also to socialize.
When it was stolen, it had a matching helmet, a rack on its back and elevated handlebars.
“We want to have this bicycle returned to Mike. We want to get his independence back,” says Const. Laura Collier of Brantford Police.
Without any other way of getting home Monday night, Crechiolo – who has autism – was given a ride by police.
With reporting by Nadia Matos
