Las Vegas nonprofit BMX track asks for support after bikes, equipment stolen

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A local BMX track is asking the community for help after people there said thousands of dollars worth of bikes, equipment, and tools were stolen.

“This is where we come to let all of our problems go,” BMX rider Richard White said.

The track serves as a symbol of community.

“We’re a small nitch group,” Nellis BMX Vice President Joe Dotson said. “We all have fun, we know each other.”

Nellis BMX in the northeast valley is a non-profit that allows people and families of all ages to take part in the sport.

“Everything that this track brings in,” Dotson explained. “Goes back to the development and the riders.”

However, this week, they were forced to pump the brakes on their mission. Dotson told 8 News Now when he arrived at the track on Tuesday morning, he realized thousands of dollars worth of custom bikes, equipment, and tools had been taken.

“We noticed that the locks were cut,” he recalled. “And the door was open.”

He said many of those are loaned out or donated to people just learning to ride, so not having them has taken a toll.

“If we don’t have the loaner bikes, we don’t have the support we need to give the community,” White explained. “So it definitely is a hindrance on us.”

Dotson told 8 News Now on-site security cameras were also removed before the theft took place, so now they have to work even harder to find answers.

“We’re looking anywhere, is that a bike that we don’t think belongs?” White said. “We’re just keeping an eye out.”

They said they are now hoping the community can help, asking anyone who may know anything to come forward.

This way, they said they can turn their focus back to the real connection they have built together.

“That’s what BMX is about,” Dotson concluded. “We’re a family.”

Dotson told 8 News Now insurance won’t cover the bikes that were stolen. Many of them are custom, so they are expensive.

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