“I was actually kind of angry,” Shreves said. “We were just about to fix up my bike. I was about to get some new handlebars and fix up the chain and everything.”
The police were contacted, but luckily, Shreves’ mom, Corey Messer, had video of the theft. In an effort to find the culprit, she posted the video in the Everything Kettering Facebook group. The video garnered 40 reactions and 34 comments.
The popularity of the post could be the reason that Brad Hosler saw it. He and his wife own Drytech Exteriors in Kettering, and being the father of five kids, he just couldn’t let a kid go through summer without having a bike.
“It jut angered me that someone had the audacity in broad daylight,” Hosler said. “Not that that makes a bit of difference, but just going into someone’s backyard and stealing a kid’s a bike?”
Hosler commented on the post that if the bike was not returned, he would gladly purchase a new one for Shreves. The bike was not recovered, so Hosler and Messer connected and made a plan to get a new bike. They planned to meet at Dick’s to pick one out, but Messer was held up at work, which might have been a good thing. Hosler ended up going by himself to pick out a bike.
“So, I went to Dick’s. I get there and there are six bikes and there’s no way he wants any of these bikes. There was a ‘Moana’ bike. I asked are these all the bikes you have?” Hosler said.
The employee at Dick’s said there are bikes in the back, but they would have to be put together. Hosler, not wanting to be a burden, decided that Dick’s was not the best place to get what Shreves wanted. So he left, and on the way home, he called K&G Bike Center in Kettering.
“I asked if they had any BMX bikes. They said, ‘Yeah we got some DK Daytons.’ I said, ‘no way.’ They were closing in 10 minutes, but they stayed open for me and that was really cool,” Hosler said.
At the bike center, Hosler looked around, even though he didn’t know anything about bikes. He did know that Shreves liked the color black, and there just happened to be just one black DK Dayton there. When purchasing the bike, K&G Bike Center said that because of Hosler’s good deed, they would give him the bike at cost. They gave the bike a thorough inspection as well.
“They worked with me, and together we were able to make it happen. I was super excited, so much more excited than if I would’ve got one of those Dick’s bikes. I swear it was a God-thing,” Hosler said.
The next day Messer and Shreves met Hosler at his business, and the teen got his new bike. Messer took photos and again posted in the Everything Kettering Facebook group. That post received more than 675 reactions and 44 comments.
“That’s really why I posted it because it is such a special story,” Messer said. “I am a Christian. I believe that God orchestrated it. Just every little detail. It’s neat how I didn’t know if was the only black one there.”
Shreves was surprised and thankful for the new bike, and said it is now being locked up in the garage to prevent it from being stolen. While at K&G Bike Center, Hosler asked about a bike lock and they gave it to him for free.
“When this all transpired, I was like, I just have to share it because I want people to know that there are still good people in the world. This is just the best story ever. It was really good. It doesn’t happen every day,” Messer said.
The old bike still has not been found, but Shreves said he really doesn’t care anymore. His old bike was getting kind of “janky,” and the new bike works great. He still can’t believe that someone went out of their way to do this simple act of helping a kid get a new bike.
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