Michigan teen searching for bike taken after crash

ST. JOSEPH, Mich. - A Michigan teen and his mom are on a mission to find a stolen bike with sentimental value. It was snatched Saturday after the 17-year-old crashed on the side of the road.

“[You] don’t see many yellow bikes on the road,” said the teen, Ben Becker.

There’s been one less riding down Hollywood Road since 17-year-old Ben Becker crashed his prized yellow bike Saturday afternoon.

“I was riding my bike to work, and right back there across from the apple orchard, a bag got caught in my front tire and I went face first right over the handlebars,” said Becker.

The launch left him with some scrapes on his face and arm and seven stitches under his nose.

Fortunately, he was wearing a helmet.

“I left it in the ditch laying down” he said.

Then, he called his grandparents to take him to the emergency room.

“They said can you go get Ben’s bike? And when we did, it was gone, and that’s where it all began—the story of the missing bike,” said Ben’s mom, Melissa Becker.

“Well, I was pretty devastated, because it had a lot of sentimental value to both me and my grandpa, because he bought it in the 70’s, so it was almost a 50-year-old bike that got taken, and we spent a lot of time both him and I fixing it up,” said Ben.

The bike is a 1974 Schwinn Continental.

Distraught for her son, Ben’s mom posted to Facebook, hoping a few of her friends would share it.”

“Overnight we were pushing a thousand, and now we’re heading toward 1300 shares on Facebook,” she said.

To catch drivers’ attention, she stuck a sign with a picture of the bike and her contact information in the ground Monday.

“This was pretty close to where the bike was left, so I’m hoping that the person who took it may travel this road a lot and if they see it again or see the sign, they’ll realize it was someone’s bike and put it down, and we can come pick it up,” said Ben’s mother.

As ben’s injuries heal, there’s only one thing on his mind.

“I just really want the bike back,” he said.

Ben’s mother says she feels overwhelmed by the community’s support.

She says many people have offered to pitch in for a new bike, and while she is grateful, she says that Ben’s bike holds sentimental value, so they’re still just searching for his.

To submit any tips about the bike’s whereabouts, you can reach out to Melissa Becker at 296-325-3101.