Palos Heights steps up to replace man’s stolen tricycle

PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. (WGN) — The Palos Heights community rallied around one of their own Thursday by stepping up with a surprise after a thief stole a prized possession earlier this week.

John Cronin is quite the character and well-known in his neighborhood — a neighborhood that was particularly upset when someone wronged him earlier this week.

Every morning, Cronin peddles over to the Palos Heights McDonald’s, where he’s considered a friendly face, for his meal of choice.

“The big breakfast,” Cronin exclaimed. “Big breakfast or If I go there in the afternoon … the nuggets.”

It’s a common sight around the southwest suburban city — seeing Cronin cruising around on his tricycle, which his brother Michael told WGN News he bought himself about four years ago.

“It’s his lifeline,” Michael Cronin said. “He rides it everywhere.”

That was, until someone stole it Tuesday.

“While he was at McDonald’s, someone took the bike and he called out for the police,” said William Czajkowski, Palos Heights Police Department’s Chief of Police. “It tugged at my heartstrings when we found this happened and had happened to him.”

PHPD said they’ve found photos of their suspect, but as word spread of what happened, the focus shifted to getting a new trike for Cronin.

That’s where Richard’s Bicycles came into play. The Fraternal Order of Police planned to fork over the funds, but the store’s owner stepped up to replace the tricycle, free of charge.

“I said absolutely! we’d be glad to help him out with that,” said Richard Dziedzic, owner of Richard’s Bicycles, which led to Thursday’s grand surprise for Cronin.

Dziedzic, Czajkowski and some of his fellow PHPD officers gifted him a brand new blue tricycle, along with gift cards to McDonald’s and a lock to keep any Hamburglars from striking again.

“Your McDonalds for the foreseeable future should be covered,” said John Parnitzke, a detective sergeant with PHPD.

PHPD said they are still trying to track down the trike thief, but as for Cronin, he’ll likely be back at his favorite restaurant sporting his slick new wheels tomorrow morning.

“Thank you!” Cronin said amidst smiles and laughs on his first test drive.

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