Man who allegedly stole specialized bike from boy with cerebral palsy arrested

Police on Wednesday arrested a probationer caught on camera last month stealing a customized bike belonging to a 13-year-old boy with cerebral palsy.

Forensic evidence lifted from the bike — which was recovered on Jan. 28, five days after it was reported stolen — led investigators to Carlos Andres Lopez, a 47-year-old Los Angeles man who’s been convicted of selling drugs, possessing a gun, burglary and other crimes, according to Burbank Police Sgt. Claudio Losacco.

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On Wednesday, Lopez showed up to a scheduled meeting with his probation officer, where Burbank police arrested him on suspicion of burglary and grand theft.

Lopez, who was on probation under the state’s criminal realignment law, is being held without bail.

According to police, Lopez told investigators he planned to sell the bike he stole, but after seeing the widespread news coverage of the theft — which included surveillance photos of him wheeling the bike out of the apartment complex wearing a checkered beanie and gloves — he abandoned the idea, and the $5,300 bike.

The next morning, a woman spotted the bike on the side of a road in Silver Lake and called police.

Hours later, investigators returned the bike to the boy’s home.

“I ran down there, I opened the door, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, it’s it, it’s it,’” the boy’s mother Allesha Jeffries said at the time. “‘It’s beat up, but it’s it.’”

To purchase the bike two years ago, Damian “DJ” Jeffries applied for and received two grants, which together came out to $3,500, and raised an additional $1,800 by appealing to family and friends.

With his mom’s help, Damian rode the bike a couple times a week — sometimes just to a restaurant down the street. The goal, she said, is for him to be independent enough to ride to and from school on his own.

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Before the bike was recovered, Jeffries launched an online crowd-funding campaign, which generated more than $2,300 for a replacement bike.

When the bike was returned, she shipped it back to the manufacturer for an inspection, as it needed repairs.

She hopes to get a new or repaired bike in coming weeks, as Damian is slated to have surgery next month to loosen the muscles in his legs. For up to six weeks after the surgery, both of his legs will be fully wrapped in casts.

“He won’t be able to ride for a while after that,” Jeffries said Thursday.

The crowd-generated funds, she added, will be used either to repair the bike or to purchase an indoor trainer, which will allow Damian to cycle inside during his recovery.

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Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @atchek