BMX bike stolen from Miramar home weeks before competition

Ethan Rodriguez wants his bike back, asks for public help

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. ā€“ Ethan Rodriguez, 9, has quite the collection of trophies, which he proudly displays around his Miramar home.

"I have first place, second place, third place," Ethan, an expert-class BMX rider, said. Ā Ā Ā 

Ethan is set to take his talents to the world stage later this month at a competition in Colombia.

But there's one snag in his plans.

Someone recently made off with Ethanā€™s custom-made bike.

"Why did my bike get stolen?" Ethan asked. "Why would someone steal my bike? It's a kid's bike."Ā 

Ethan's father, Elias Rodriguez, loaded the pro bike into the back of his SUV Monday night in order to get to work early Tuesday and pick Ethan up for practice in the afternoon.

"When I woke up this morning, I saw that certain things in my car were moved around, so I looked in the back and the bike was missing," Rodriguez said. "I asked my wife, 'Do you have the bike? Are you going to take him to the practice,' and she said 'No.'"Ā 

With the SUV left unlocked, the thief took off with the bike, which costs about $3,000, along with all of Ethan's biking gear.

Anger over the situation quickly turned into sadness, as Ethan is weeks away from taking part in a competition for which heā€™s been training for nine months.

"We just want the bike back," Rodriguez said. "We don't really care who took it. It was a mistake. Understood. It looks nice. It's unique. There's no way you can take it anywhere and ride it.'

Ethan's family has started a GoFundMe account to help raise money to buy a new bike.Ā