Police Get Boy Rolling Again

A 4-year-old boy who was kidnapped received a special gift from the Police Department on Wednesday--a new bike to replace the one dismantled for evidence in the case.

“Cool,” said the youngster, climbing onto the silvery blue bike, complete with training wheels. “My other one is broken,” he later said.

The Anaheim boy was taken from the front of a relative’s home June 24, as he was riding his bicycle. He was found alone but unhurt an hour and a half later in a Brea park.

Police later arrested Billy Drew Tinsley, 39, of Placentia. He was charged with kidnapping a child to commit a lewd act and is awaiting trial. Police allege the suspect exposed himself to the boy.

The bicycle, which had been left at the scene of the kidnapping, was taken apart and treated with corrosive chemicals used to detect fingerprints.

“I felt bad,” said Terri Raulston, the forensic specialist who performed the fingerprinting tests. “I had to take his nice little bike away. We wanted to give it back to him but it would have been a hazard to the child. . . . We had to do something.”

She and several other officers collected enough money to buy the boy a new bike and tickets to Disneyland.

In thanking the Anaheim Police Department, the boy’s grandmother and guardian said her grandson was “a strong little boy” who had bonded with some of the officers during the investigation.

“That was one of the worst days of our lives. . . . But you came through in full force and magnitude,” the grandmother said. She said the boy was in good spirits and would be undergoing counseling.