Two pedal carts used by children with special needs were stolen from a home in the Stratford area.
The Vandyk family owns the farm south of Stratford, and started hosting a monthly event to help children with autism and other different abilities get closer to nature.
Their son Jaron, who has autism, loved being driven around by his sister in the pedal cart.
His parents recently purchased another one, known as a BERG GranTour Bike, so that others could also enjoy the experience.
The family hosted their first event in June, but soon after that the two pedal go-karts were stolen.
“It was a joyful experience to see other people enjoying it. And I can remember a particular family of four, they were able to go on the BERG bike, which is the four seater, all together and enjoy themselves,” said mother and property owner Anna Vandyk.
The carts had been stored in a shed on the property since the last event held at the farm.
The first bike was recovered last Friday after OPP conducted a search warrant in Perth East.
“Perth County OPP are still striving to identify the persons responsible for the theft. We want to recover this very important item for this family,” said Perth County OPP Cost. Michael Melnychuk.
The other cart remains unaccounted for. It is described as being an orange, four-wheel BERG GranTour vehicle. It has two rows of two plastic seats apiece, and is steered from the back seats. It is worth roughly $3,400.
The theft is frustrating for the Vandyks as they’d barely had time to enjoy the new bike before it was stolen.
The family says despite only having one pedal cart for now, they will continue to invite children with special needs to enjoy the outdoors.
Anyone with information about its whereabouts is asked to contact police at 1-888-310-1122 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
With reporting by Nicole Lampa.
