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12-year-old who was pushed off and robbed of bike in Dearborn gifted new one

By and Jack Nissen
Published  July 17, 2023 10:13pm EDT
Dearborn
FOX 2 Detroit

12-year-old gifted new bike after being robbed

A 12-year-old was riding his bike when a man grabbed his handle bars and shoved him off, before riding away. The man was eventually arrested, but that wouldn't heal the trauma suffered by the kid. Perhaps a gift from his state representative would.

DEARBORN, Mich. (FOX 2) - To Alabas Farhat, there were multiple offenses in the video of a kid in Dearborn getting his bike stolen: The immediate robbery and the trauma that follows.

"There’s two type of crimes," he said. The crime of his bike getting stolen and there's the crime of robbing that kid of his memories in the summer."

Farhat, a state rep for Michigan's 3rd District in Dearborn, was one of many that saw the heartbreaking footage of a 12-year-old. In it, a man in red clothes can be seen brooding over the kid. With his hands on the handle bars of the kid's bike, he pushes him out of the way and rides off.

It happened on a busy roadway, so some people likely saw the exchange first-hand. However, it was the subsequent reaction online that helped bring the criminal to justice. 

"I see a kid get manhandled off his bike. Someone who looks just like my niece and nephew and I’m disheartened. Right away I'm like ‘how can this happen?'" he asks. "How does that happen in our community?"

But Farhat wasn't interested in commentary on the thief. He was in his district recently to meet with the 12-year-old - and to give him a gift.

"To be someone who can step up when I saw that meant a lot," Farhat said. "I grew up and read stories of other people doing it and I thought this is my chance."

It wouldn't erase the trauma of being robbed. But it could give the child a new foundation of trust.

"We showed up to the house and I rang the family on the way there. They didn’t tell the kid - he was in the backyard playing with his brother and we pop in," he said.

Video caught the moment the kid was surprised with the new bike - purchased by Farhat at a local Walmart.

"He was happy, he was back on that bike within 24 hours of the incident happening and that’s what we want right?" he said.

The robbery happened July 13. After the video caught fire and spread on social media, the suspect turned himself, police said.

"Hopefully we send a message to folks that we want to be a community that loves each other and cares for each other and looks out for each other," Farhat said. "If you are down on your luck we are here to help, but we are not here for stuff like that."