Two businesses team up to replace local man’s stolen bicycle
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POCATELLO — Two local businesses recently teamed up to replace the stolen bicycle of a local man and fixture of the community.
Many Pocatellans likely recognize Ronnie Cox as he rides his bicycle around the Gate City. After his bike was stolen at the end of October, the teams at Outer Limits Fun Zone and East Fork Bikes joined together to get him a brand-new one.
“I ride my bike a lot,” Cox said. “Now I’ve got it locked up.”
Cox was at Outer Limits getting coffee one Friday night like he normally does when the incident occurred. He left the building at 9:30 p.m., only to find his newly purchased E-Bike was gone.
Cox said that he was, “not very happy,” when he found his bike missing.
Stacy Miller, the owner of Outer Limits, said one of her employees was taking the trash out when she found Cox spinning in circles, looking around the area.
Cox told the employee his bike was missing, and they promptly went back inside and called the Pocatello Police Department. After the police arrived and interviewed him, another employee gave Cox a ride home.
Miller said it made her angry that someone had stolen from Cox.
“It was heart-wrenching for all of us that somebody would do that,” she said. “He worked for that bike and earned it himself.”
While the Westwood Mall and Outer Limits had security cameras, they weren’t functional at the time. Despite not having much to go off of, everyone involved hoped the bike would turn up at some point.
Josh Jeffreys, Assistant Manager of East Fork Bikes, said Cox has been coming into their shop since they opened about 11 years ago.
He had just purchased his E-Bike from East Fork Bikes six months before it was stolen. Everyone at the bike shop likes Cox, Jeffreys said, so they had found the best deal they could offer him.
After the bike went missing, Cox went to East Fork Bikes to tell them about what happened. Before that, Jeffreys had always seen Cox in a good mood.
“I’ve never seen him so upset before,” Jeffreys said.
Both Jeffreys and Miller said Cox depends on his bicycle to live his life.
“He commutes with his bike and that’s like his lifeline to get around town,” Jeffreys explained.
“It’s Ronnie’s sole transportation. It would be like losing your car,” Miller said.
Miller called East Fork Bikes and told them she would like to purchase him a new bike, but they waited for a little while because they thought the bike would turn up.
A week passed, and the bike was nowhere to be found.
They decided that it was time to order a new bicycle, and East Fork Bikes gave them a discount on it.
By November 7, Outer Limits and East Fork Bikes were able to acquire a Retrospec Chatham worth more than $1000.
Ronnie said he was excited to be riding his new bicycle.
They were happy to support Ronnie, Miller said. It’s important to help the people around us.
“We just need to be compassionate for our community members and really know who’s in our community, and giving back is the best feeling you can have,” he said.