BEDFORD, Ohio — Safety Town is a rite of passage for many young children across the country.
The summer program teaches safety lessons, like what to do in case of a fire, how to safely cross the street, and what to do if you find guns or drugs.
Unfortunately, this year’s Safety Town class in Bedford is getting an unexpected real-life lesson on theft.
“I went to Safety Town and now I've brought my daughter to Safety Town, and it was just unfortunate when I came here and they were like, 'Someone stole the cars,'” explains Shanika Early, whose 5-year-old daughter Jordyn is enrolled in the Bedford program.
Four pedal cars were stolen on June 14 from the outdoor Safety Town space at Central Primary School on Washington Street.
“They need to give the cars back,” says Early. “It's not yours, give it back.”
On the day of the theft, the cars were all parked in a gated, locked, enclosure. It's believed that whoever stole the cars, somehow got over or under the fence to get the cars out.
Bedford police have since released surveillance video of the incident, which you can watch below.
“They figured out a way to get four cars out originally,” says Safety Town Head Instructor Shawn Smith. “Two were left because they didn't like those, and they took the bigger ones that were the newer models.”
Smith, who has been teaching at Safety Town for 19 years, says nothing like this has ever happened under his tenure.
“I was shocked,” Smith says.
The still missing two pedal cars are worth about 150 dollars each. Smith says they were recently spotted near the Wolf's Cove Apartment Complex on Solon Rd, which is less than a half of a mile from the school.
The Bedford teacher has the following message for whoever stole from innocent 5 and 6-year-olds.
“You made a bad choice,” Smith says. “Make a good choice and just leave them by the gate and we'll take care of it from there. You don't have to say your name. You don't have to let us know, just leave them and we'll take care of the rest.”
The Superintendent of Bedford City Schools, Dr. Cassandra Johnson, released a statement about the theft writing … “We are so disappointed and disheartened by the incident. It is the district’s goal in collaboration with city partners to provide equitable access to such programming.”
Anyone with information on where the cars may be is asked to call Bedford Police at 440-232-1234. You can also contact Bedford Safety Town directly by emailing SafetyTownBedfordOhio@gmail.com.
