News

Jun 11, 2023

Anonymous donor replaces Bountiful teen's stolen scooter

by: Derick Fox Posted: May 9, 2023 / 09:11 AM MDT Updated: May 9,

by: Derick Fox

Posted: May 9, 2023 / 09:11 AM MDT

Updated: May 9, 2023 / 11:28 AM MDT

EDITOR’S NOTE: Because of the teen's age, ABC4 has declined to share his name publicly.

BOUNTIFUL, Utah (ABC4) – A 13-year-old Bountiful teen was surprised when an anonymous donor gifted him a brand-new electric scooter after his was stolen at a gas station.

Bountiful City Police posted about the theft, saying it took place on Monday, April 17. The teen rode his scooter to a nearby gas station after school to meet with his friends and get a drink. He left his scooter outside by the door because he didn't want to upset the cashier by bringing it inside, according to police.

While he was inside with his friends, a woman allegedly saw "a great opportunity" to take the scooter. Bountiful Police said she put it into the backseat of her car, but it was too large to fit, so she left the door open, with the scooter hanging out, and sped away onto Highway 89.

Just a few weeks later, on Monday, May 8, Bountiful Police posted a happy update.

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An anonymous donor saw the post and reached out to the police department privately to help replace the stolen scooter.

"There were some offers made on the original post, but something like this can't be coordinated in public view," Bountiful Police wrote on social media. "We don't want someone to see it and then have the whole deal fall through and have more disappointment. As soon as someone reached out via private message, we worked with them to make it happen."

Officers Cody Keith and Jon Joubert said they had the honor of presenting the teen with the new scooter. They were planning on riding the scooter to the teen's house to surprise him, but Keith said when he was a kid, "he would have been excited to put it together himself."

That turned out to be the right call because according to Bountiful PD, the teen was excited to put the scooter together with his dad.

"It was a cool moment," said Joubert.

The anonymous donor reportedly only had one request that went along with his gift and that was to let the teen know "not all people are bad."

As for the suspect who got away with teh teen's first scooter, she has still not been found. Bountiful Police Department said most of their social media cases are solved in a week, or not solved at all.

"If we had any other leads besides the video, we’d be working on them," Joubert said.

Anyone with information on the stolen the electric scooter can contact Bountiful Police Department at 801-298-6000 and reference case number 23-999.

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