Watch CBS News

Exclusive: Thieves Steal Autistic Boy's Basketball Hoop

MT. AIRY, Pa. (CBS) -- Basketball is more than just a game to 11-year-old Ojay Harris. It's a way of life. Every chance he gets, Harris says, he watches basketball on television. When he's not watching it, he was playing it in his backyard until recently. Tuesday morning Harris, who is autistic, awoke to find that someone stole his basketball hoop.

"I was thinking, I was mad," said Harris.

Last month when his family moved to Mt. Airy, his father bought Ojay a basketball hoop worth about $200. His father says he didn't want his son hanging out at the nearby Finley playground.

"Between the big kids pushing the younger kids off the basketball court and stealing their basketballs, and the dope dealers out there," said Shannon Harris. "That's the reason why the basketball court was purchased, for him, to keep him from down there."

Shannon Harris says he thinks the thieves stole his sons prized possession, for metal. He says the culprits took the chain used to secure the hoop to the family's deck. Harris filed a police report and called Eyewitness News, in hopes the hoop will be returned.

"Even if you return it, I don't want you to get in trouble just bring it back," said Harris.

Reported By Jericka Duncan, CBS 3

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.