Losing an arm at age 17 didn't stop a Las Vegas man from reaching his dream of racing motorcycles, but a senseless (and probably clueless) thief has put that passion on hold.
John Van Hoove's arm was lost in an industrial accident as a teenager but thanks to his special prosthetic arm, he's able to race dirt bikes in the desert.
But 8 News Now in Las Vegas reports Van Hoove has been forced off his bike after someone stole his gear bag with his arm from a gas station on Saturday morning.
"I realize my gear bag is missing out of my car," he told the TV station. "My helmet (was) sticking out of the gear bag, my boots, those kinds of things. The guy probably didn't realize my arm was in there -- my prosthetic carbon-fiber arm that's been modified for racing.
Van Hoove was surprisingly classy about the theft, though:
"If someone needed to eat, and they needed to have food on their table, they can have the helmet," he said. "They can have the boots, the gear bag. It's probably worth about a thousand dollars. Maybe they can sell it to have some food, but the arm's no use to anybody else. It's custom-fit to me."
The artificial arm is estimated to be worth more than $10,000. Van Hoove's going to be forced to miss at least one upcoming dirt bike race.
He's asking the thief to give his arm back either to the Chevron station or to a police station.
