Get Brian a Bike

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EVERETT, Wash. -- A grandfather fighting cancer found himself in a battle with a bike thief this week.

"It just never occurred to me that he wouldn't just drop the bike the moment he saw me coming but he didn't," said Brian Anderson.

After a ride with his grandson, Anderson stopped at Hauge Homestead Park. While Gabriel played, Anderson confronted a guy with bolt cutters and his brand new $1,100 bicycle -- his third bike stolen in two months.

"He held onto it in front of him like a shield and I grabbed onto it and pulled back and forth for awhile and then he let go with one hand and walloped me," Anderson said.

The thief rode away leaving grandpa needing 10 stitches.

"I saw that his blood was gushing really badly," Gabriel said.

Bikes have been big for Anderson since he was a boy. Now that he's fighting leukemia, biking provides an escape from chemo.

"We'll be riding through the woods and just tearing it up and laughing," Anderson said. "I've got cancer but this is fun."

Anderson scoured pawn shops searching for his wheels, knowing he probably shouldn't buy another since he's out of work.

"It was the 19-inch 2011 Rock Hopper," he said.

So the KOMO 4 Problem Solvers contacted the shop where he bought his ride.

"Hearts sort of went out to him; happened to you a third time I guess," said Devin Ryan with Bicycle Centers of Everett as he announced that his shop would present Anderson a new bike, free of charge.

"Thank you!" Anderson replied.

It's a free bike but Anderson's face paid the price.

"I need a couple more of those big locks," he said.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• brain
• anderson
• bike
• thief
• stolen
• punch
• cancer
• grandfather
• news
• Homestead
• Park
• silver
• lake
• everett
• washington
• lock
• pawn
• bicycle

[TOMATNOSCE]

"Give me a couple more of those big locks and yeah, that baseball bat too!," said Grandpa. Sad that he has to fight his leukemia along with the lower world bike thief scum.