Meanies

Englewood: Eighty-five-year-old Don Francis spent three years refurbishing a three-wheel bike with shiny paint, chrome handlebars and polished wheel spokes. In one day over the weekend the whole thing disappeared after somebody stole it.

Police found the bike on Thursday, but it wasn't the same as Francis left it. The basket, lights and reflectors were all gone, the back wheel badly bent.

"Those reflectors and lights used to shine really bright," Francis said. "Those were all things that people would come by and say, 'Don, are you going to put this on the bike or that on the bike?'"

But Francis, who uses an oxygen tank because of a medical condition from breathing too much asbestos, said he doesn't think he can put all that time into fixing it up again.

Instead, he might take one that a local man offered after hearing his story, the Charlotte Sun Herald reported.

Though Francis never expected the bike to get stolen, he said he came across plenty of nice folks trying to get it back.