Custom-built tricycle stolen from 94-year-old Cleveland man’s home
CLEVELAND (WJW) — A man suspected of stealing a 94-year-old’s custom-built and sentimental tricycle on Sunday has been arrested.
The family said Dr. Nicholas LaGattuta moved into his son and daughter-in-law’s home in Cleveland’s Battery Park neighborhood after his beloved wife Marianne passed away in 2021 at the age of 88.
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Nicholas had always wanted a two-seat tricycle to go on excursions with his wife. When the family bought a custom-built trike, it had special meaning for Dr. LaGattuta, as he tried to embrace his new life without his wife.
“My dad and I go out almost every day in the summertime and we put our dog in the back and we drive around Edgewater Park and he loves it. It’s his favorite part of the day. Sometimes we go out twice a day,” said his son, Jack LaGattuta.
The family discovered on Sunday that a thief had taken the tricycle from their backyard.
Video from their security cameras showed a man, with a distinctive gait and wearing a hooded sweatshirt, mask and gloves, prowling around their backyard off of Detroit Avenue.
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After removing the cover from the trike, he slowly pedaled away.
Jack LaGattuta had to break the bad news to his father.
“Disgust, followed by anger, followed by frustration,” he said.
The tricycle that was stolen is not a child’s toy. The family spent up to $5,000 purchasing the trike and equipping it so that Dr. LaGattuta could travel around the neighborhood.
The Worksman side-by-side team adult tricycle has an electric assist motor.
Jack LaGattuta pointed out that the thief would have trouble using the trike or trying to sell it.
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“If they ride it, they’re going to get caught because it’s the only one of its kind in Northeast Ohio and if they go to try to sell it, they’re going to get caught because it’s such a unique bike that it’ll jump out at anybody,” he said.
On Thursday, Jack LaGattu spotted a man riding a child’s bike. According to Jack, it caught his eye and he noticed the person resembled the man in the video who stole his dad’s tricycle.
Jack called the Cleveland Division of Police detective on the case and police arrested the suspect.
According to police, the suspect is a well-known thief in the Cudell, Edgewater and Battery Park neighborhoods.
Police said the suspect confessed to taking the tricycle and told police where to find it. Detectives are currently working to get a search warrant for the property the tricycle is at, according to police.
Charges are pending for the suspect at this time.
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