Show Compassion Over Stolen Bike

Re “Bike Is Back After 21 Years on Trail” (Sept. 14):

After reading what was undoubtedly meant to be an uplifting article about the return of a long-ago stolen bike to its former owner, I was overcome with sadness. How unfortunate that a poor homeless woman who truly needed the bike (and had paid what was for her a dear price for it) crosses paths with a police officer with perhaps too much time on his hands and too little compassion in his heart. He decides to confiscate the battered and practically useless bike as stolen property even while admitting that the homeless woman likely did not know it was once stolen.

If I were Wendy Rincon, I’d use this as a teachable moment for her child when he’s old enough to understand by saving the article and explaining that once they fixed up the bike, they returned it to its now rightful owner who needed it far more than they did.

RITA MULLER

Mission Viejo

* I would guess from the background in the picture of Wendy, she could well afford to buy herself a new one. Whatever happened to compassion? What do you think $12 meant to the homeless person who bought it? If the bike has such sentimental value, keep it, but give the homeless person a replacement.

B.J. ROETTEN

Huntington Beach