Adaptive bike among items stolen from Calgary cerebral palsy charity

A local charity was targeted by thieves early Monday morning, leaving behind a smashed-in front door. It was caught on CCTV.

It wasn’t the wake-up call Sheralee Stelter was expecting to receive on Monday morning.

Thieves smashed through the front door of Calgary charity Cerebral Palsy Kids and Families, located off Macleod Trail, at 1:46 a.m.

After unsuccessfully trying to pry the door open, one man can be seen on CCTV footage breaking the bottom window of the front door.

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Minutes later, another man with a covered face and hood enters through the broken window, along with a woman with blond hair.

Stelter says the thieves went through several desks in the building, taking six laptops and three bikes – including an adaptive bike.

One of the bikes that was taken was just donated by Calgary charity Two View Wheels on Friday.

Executive director Laura Istead says they’ve partnered with Cerebral Palsy Kids and Families for more than a decade, and the theft is upsetting.

“It’s hard enough to run a charitable organization, it’s hard enough to support and to gather support and gather resources to support the people in our community who need us most,” she said. ”So, it’s a real shame when something like this happens, because it can be really discouraging.”

“That bicycle would go out to somebody who it can help.”

Stelter says the donated bike was so new to Cerebral Palsy Kids and Families they hadn’t even had time to put it in their inventory.

“We got it late Friday, and it was gone by Monday morning.”

“We’re just hoping that [police] can maybe retrieve some of the stuff,” Stelter added. “That would be best-case scenario.”

The organization is set to host its annual Halloween trunk-or-treat event this weekend.

“Our members come and trick-or-treat in the indoor parkade,” Stelter said. ”It’s challenging for sure, because all of our stuff that we want to do for our families is put on the back burner.”

Stelter says it was an Uber driver who reported the break-in to police.

Calgary police say officers were dispatched to a report of a break in at a business in the 7000 block of Macleod Tral S.W just before 2 a.m. on Monday.

“The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers,” read a statement from police.