Staff Writer

When Christopher Allen hops on his bicycle, he is free to roam the neighborhood with ease.

“It feels like all your problems go away and you’re just out there having fun,” he said.

Allen, a seventh-grade student at Biddeford Middle School, said he has had three bicycles and a motorized mini-bike stolen in the last three years. The most recent bike to go missing was a gift he received for his 13th birthday in October.

The thefts are frustrating and heartbreaking because Allen depends on his bicycle to get around the neighborhood, said his mother, Michelle Allen. He was born with spina bifida and has nerve damage in his legs from one of 10 surgeries he has undergone.

Allen said her son can’t walk or run long distances, so bicycles provide him freedom to move around and hang out with friends. He enjoys biking in the city, but also looks forward to trips on trails where he can ride through the woods.

Michelle Allen likens the bike thefts to stealing a wheelchair.

“This is his lifeline,” she said. “What kind of person does this?”

On Dec. 20, Christopher Allen headed down to Joyful Harvest on Water Street to pick out presents for his parents at an annual Christmas event. He and a friend locked their bikes together before heading into the neighborhood center. When he was done shopping, r Allen said he came outside to find the other boy and both bikes were gone.

His first thought was that his parents stopped by to pick up the bike. A quick phone call to his mother revealed that wasn’t the case.

“It wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to hear,” he said.

The Allens called police to report the theft and drove slowly through the neighborhood to look for the bike Christopher Allen had ridden for barely two months.

“It was absolute heartbreak,” Michelle Allen said. “Nobody wants to see their child hurt. Time and time again I’ve seen my son hurt, robbed and victimized.”

Michelle Allen drives around the neighborhood with a photo of the mountain bike and the serial number. She said she has little hope she’ll ever find the bicycle, but can’t bring herself to stop looking. As she looks for the bike, she often thinks back to Christmas Eve when her son opened a present she had stashed under the tree before the theft.

As Christopher Allen unwrapped a set of bike lights, “a black cloud descended through the room,” Michelle Allen said.

“It reminded me of something I lost,” Christopher Allen said.

Though his new bike is missing, Christopher Allen said he is lucky to have a used bike from the Community Bicycle Center. He said he dreams of finding his stolen bike and seeing whoever took it held responsible for their actions.

Deputy Police Chief JoAnne Fisk said the department maintains a registry and tries to match found bicycles with their owners. Many people who report bikes stolen do not have serial numbers, which makes recovering them more difficult, she said.

“The best thing people can do is register (their bicycle) with us,” Fisk said.

Fisk said registering bicycles only takes a few minutes. She also recommends people make sure to lock their bikes and maintain their own records with the serial number and descriptions of the make and model.

Any bicycles found by the police department that go unclaimed are donated to the Community Bicycle Center. The center operates a drop-in workshop where students can build and work on bicycles.

Michelle Allen said she is fed up with seeing her child and his friends become victims of bike thefts. She and her husband are considering relocating outside the city to an area where her son will have more room to ride and enjoy outdoor activities.

“I just want him to be able to be a kid,” she said. “The world’s not supposed to be like this.”

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.