BILLINGS — One Billings Heights man is turning to the community for help after his only means of transportation, an electric bicycle, was stolen last Thursday.
Without a way to commute to work or school, Napoleon Clayton is frustrated.
"It was rough the night I walked out and saw it gone. I was like, oh, man, that's a lot of money that just walked away," said Clayton Monday night in the Billings Heights.
Clayton had walked out of his workplace, Billings Clinic, for a quick break when he saw that someone had cut the lock off his $2,500 electric bike with custom parts.
The Army veteran doesn't have a driver's license so his electric bicycle was his only way to get to work and college courses at MSU-Billings.
"It was more than just my everyday transportation and my to and from. It was really a piece of my freedom that I had," Clayton said.
He filed a police report and notified local pawn shops. Clayton's sister, Shaye Farnsworth, went to work chasing her own leads on social media.
“The outpouring that I've gotten has been quite overwhelming," said Farnsworth.
Community members left and right have messaged her with sightings of a man riding the electric bicycle near North Broadway and Division Street.
"I would take those messages, and I, you know, someone would message me, "Oh, I've seen it. He's down here at, you know, such and such intersection. I would immediately get in my truck and drive down there, and by the time I got down there, he's gone," Farnsworth said.
Lt. Matt Lennick with the Billings Police Department said as e-bikes become more popular, so do e-bike thefts. There were at least 18 last year in Billings and 11 so far this year.
Clayton believes the bike is most likely dead at this point and is somewhere in the city. Luckily, only he can charge the battery as his key is unique to his bike. For now, he'll have to rely on the kindness of family and strangers.
"I guess I'm going to try and get a bus pass or I'm going to see if my sister can give me a ride, get rides where I can. That kind of deal because I don't have anything else otherwise," said Clayton.
Farnsworth has created a GoFundMe for her brother in case the e-bike is lost forever.
"Everybody seems to have a story about something going on here in Billings where they're like, "Yeah, I had this go missing or I had somebody try to break into my home. So we all are trying to deal with this in a way," Clayton said. "It’s been very heartwarming to have the community reach out and help and know that, you know, when stuff like this happens, that we're all in this situation together."
