A Taylorsville kindergarten student who wants to be a police officer someday cried himself to sleep Wednesday night after someone stole the miniature electric police car that he received as a birthday present last year.
Brittnee Squibb has filed a police report about the theft of her son Conner Burton’s motorized vehicle, which was taken from the side of the Circle K gas station at the corner of U.S. 31 and Tannehill Road in Taylorsville just after 8 p.m. Wednesday.
“We had a rough night last night,” Squibb said Thursday morning.
Squibb had accompanied Conner, 5, and his brother, Hunter Burton, 1, with the boys in the miniature car from their home in the Driftside neighborhood to the convenience store to get a snack, she said.
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They had left the car on the sidewalk with a gas can just after 8 p.m. and were only inside the store for about three minutes, she said. When they went back outside, the miniature car and the gas can were gone.
Conner has been inconsolable about the loss of his car, which arrived as a birthday surprise from his grandmother, Vonda Pacek of Elizabethtown.
During Conner’s birthday party, officers from Edinburgh Police Department arrived with their cars, lights and sirens to celebrate the gift, Pacek said. At the time, Pacek worked as a dispatcher for Edinburgh and the officers graciously agreed to surprise the boy.
Allowing the boys to ride in the miniature car as Squibb walked alongside on the sidewalk to the Circle K was something the family has done many times, Squibb said. There has never been a problem before about leaving the miniature car outside while the family goes in to get a snack, she said.
“Conner is very upset,” his mother said. “I don’t know what it is about him wanting to be a police officer. We have watched cop shows since he was little and he just loves them. He’s just the kind of kid who likes to help people.”
The black-and-white car was not pristine, as the boys had been using it for awhile, Squibb said.
Some identifying characteristics include a slightly damaged grill bar on the front and one of the lights on the front is cracked. It was valued at $300 when it was new, Pacek said.
The miniature police car was the only law enforcement possession Conner has received so far, his mother said. He had hoped someday to have a police officer uniform to wear when riding in the car, his mother said.
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Anyone with information about the stolen miniature car is asked to call the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department at 812-379-1689 or the department’s tip line at 812-379-1712 where information may be left anonymously. Tips may also be emailed to [email protected].
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