A Waukesha County Sheriff’s detective wanted to give back to an area toddler in the same way an officer did for him when he was a boy.
Things are stolen every day around the Milwaukee area. Some are small like purses and bicycles and others, a little larger like cars and trucks.
Sunday, a brazen thief took things a little too far, stealing a little girl's tricycle from her front yard.
"I see an old red pick up truck pull up and I'm watching it happen out the window," said Betsy Allen. "I thought they were stealing our mail but the tricycle is what went missing."
Allen says she's not sure what the men looked like but police told her they believe it was either as a prank or could be someone trying to sell the tricycle as scrap metal for money.
"It was silly," Allen said. "I couldn't believe that's what was taken honestly because my son's bike was in the yard too."
While silly, Allen was nervous. These people just came right up into her yard and took something off of their property.
"It's very unsettling," Allen said. "That was a long night. Any sound you'd hear, you'd think is that truck coming back and trying to take more?"
Allen did what most upset parents would do in the situation; she took to Facebook to share her grief. One of her family friends who happens to be a Waukesha County Sheriff's deputy saw the post.
"It really blew me out of the water," Anderson said. "I couldn't understand the theory behind it."
Anderson decided to do something but not as a law enforcement official. He took it upon himself as a community member to buy this little girl a tricycle.
But it fulfilled a lifelong full circle for him.
"I was about five or six years old," Anderson said. "I went to the local swimming pool and rode my bicycle. My bicycle got stolen. About a day later, an officer from the City of Waukesha Police Department found my bike and brought it home. It was a good cherished memory. Here it is, 45 years later, it's a good childhood memory I remember and I'm happy that I was able to possibly do the same thing. She could have the same type of memory and remember we're here to help."
"It was very considerate," Allen said. "Just a very sweet and little gesture. It means a lot and her birthday is on Friday too so it's sweet."
The soon to be 3-year-old named Ever loves her new pink tricycle with streamers on the handlebars. She struggles to push the pedals with her bare feet, however, she's grinning ear to ear on her new ride. It gives her a chance to try and keep up with her older brother while he rides his bicycle in their cul-de-sac, though he's sidelined momentarily with a flat tire.
It's a sight Anderson hasn't seen yet. He dropped the tricycle off without telling or seeing anyone at the home. He says, "It's the right thing to do," but it's already made Ever's third birthday the best one ever.
"To have a damper put on her birthday and for some coward to take your tricycle, it's the right thing for me or some other good person in the community to do," Anderson said. "To try and make something a little better for a girl who has suffered a little bit of a loss that day."
