MIDDLETOWN — It may have just been a bike theft, but to the Brewer family the thieves who recently took the cycle from their garage may prove to be the Grinches who stole Christmas.

The bike was the only item 16-year-old Cody Brewer got for Christmas last year. The custom-made red tricycle with heavy black Mag wheels cost single mom, Karla Brewer, almost $600 but was worth every penny. Cody has cerebral palsy and cannot walk long distances. But on his bike he could go anywhere.

“It’s the only way he could get around,” she said. “Everybody knows him as the kid on the three wheel bike.”

Karla Brewer had the Mag wheels put on the bike because Cody leans heavily to one side due to his disability. She had the brakes specially fashioned so he only had to use his left hand to stop because he cannot use his right hand. The bike gave Cody the freedom to get around without a wheelchair.

Last Saturday, Karla Brewer woke up to find the lock busted off her garage and the doors hanging wide open. Gone was Cody’s special red bike, along with his brother’s maroon Schwinn chopper-style bicycle and a pack of cigarettes from her van.

Tracks in the snow led through the Brewer’s backyard onto the road to a church on Tytus Avenue. From there the trail ran cold. The family has filed a police report and talked to neighbors about the theft, but so far there have been no leads.

Karla Brewer hasn’t been able to tell Cody about the theft. Prone to seizures, she is afraid of what the news may do to his health — and his heart.

“I was very upset because the only thing he can do is ride that bike,” she said while fighting back tears. “That is the one special thing he had for Christmas. He loves that bike.”

Even though the bike is expensive, Cody’s grandmother, Korky Lawson, said what it meant to the child is what makes it so valuable.

“I wouldn’t even call the thieves Americans. That is just so unAmerican,” Lawson said. “How can you do that to a crippled kid?”

“He is so sweet and talks to everyone. He doesn’t know what a stranger is,” she added.

Karla Brewer said she is hoping the bike is returned intact “and not in pieces.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Middletown police at (513) 425-7700.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.