Police officers surprise Westwood boy with new bike after his was stolen

Sarah Nolan | NorthJersey

Show Caption Hide Caption Westwood Police donates bike to boy after his was stolen Westwood Police replaced a young boy's bicycle after it was stolen off his front porch.

WESTWOOD – Cruising around town on a bicycle with friends is the quintessential summer experience for school boys and girls.

That’s why when Quentin Reilly's bike was stolen, he was crushed.

The 13-year-old woke up one morning on the cusp of the summer school break to find his bike had been stolen off the front porch.

“I was really angry – why did they have to take my bike?” he said last week outside of his Kinderkamack Road home.

Luckily for “Q,” as the boy is known, Westwood Police Department officers haven't forgotten what it was like to be a kid in summer. They came to the rescue and replaced the stolen bike just in time for the start of his summer break from school.

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The act of kindness was especially meaningful to Quentin’s mom, Sara Reilly, who said the family lives paycheck-to-paycheck.

It was around 3:30 a.m. when she woke up to get ready for one of her four jobs. She looked out and discovered the treasured BMX bicycle was gone. Her own was abandoned on the neighbor’s lawn – a flat tire rendering it useless to the thief – and their helmets were still strewn across the front yard.

“That bike was a gift from his uncle – I couldn’t afford to get him a new one,” said Reilly, who works at a gym, delivers newspapers and caters on the weekends to supplement her salary as a records manager with the Little Ferry Police Department.

Officer Greg Dorfman responded to the call and when Ryan Sestanovich, a special police officer with the department, caught wind of the theft, it brought him right back to when he was 13 and the same thing happened to him.

He had souped-up his hand-me-down bike and it was a gut-punch when it was stolen out of his backyard.

“The feeling has stuck with me to this day and hearing about Q’s bike brought it right back,” he said. “I thought, if I’m in the position to reverse that feeling and give the kid a bike, I’m going to do my best to do that.”

Sestanovich began to network to have the bike replaced. Ultimately, a brand-new, blue Mongoose BMX bike was donated anonymously by a shop in town.

Officers from the Westwood Police Department told the Reilly family they wanted to show Quentin some photos of a bike that could potentially be his, but surprised him with the new bike instead.

Quentin said he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face when he realized the bike was for him.

“They took the opportunity to do something so meaningful for my son, who doesn’t get a lot, from me at least,” Reilly said. “This was amazing because he’s a good kid and he didn’t deserve to have his bike stolen. It shows how awesome this department is.”

It’s the definition of community policing, something the department strives for, Chief Michael Pontillo said.

“It’s part of our community outreach and doing the right thing,” Pontillo said. “It’s nice to see the guys committed to doing this kind of thing and I’m proud to see them taking this role.”

Connecting with the community is a key part of the job, Sestanovich said. Kids might see a lot of negative news regarding police on social media – to be able to spin that and do something that places trust in police is priceless, he said.

“The opportunity to possibly change someone’s opinion on police and police work fell right into my lap, and a took it,” Sestanovich said. “It’s not always black and white – we’re here to serve and protect, but we want to connect with the community as much as possible. People shouldn’t be afraid or hesitate to come up and talk to us.”

Email: nolan@northjersey.com