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If Medford mom Kristin Flanary had any doubts about the magic of Christmas after her two sons' bikes were stolen this week, a Medford police officer put them to rest. Flanary found the bike locks cut and the bikes missing late Tuesday night and called to make a report. It wasn't the first time. Her children's bikes, skateboards, scooters and other items had been stolen multiple times in the year-and-a-half since they moved to an apartment complex off Medford's Progress Drive. "I couldn't believe I was going to have to tell them when they woke up that their bikes were stolen again," Flanary said. Medford police Officer Eric Shepherd delayed his evening meal break to take her report. "We talked for about 30 minutes and we talked about ways to make the community better and to help prevent so many thefts. He told me that he had kids of his own and he knew how important bikes are to kids," Flanary said. "A little while later, he showed up to my house in his police car with a bike in the trunk and a bike in the back seat." Both were bikes Shepherd's own kids had outgrown. Flanary took to social media to sing Shepherd's praises. Within two days, it had garnered more than 1,000 "likes" and comments on Facebook. "It was just such a special thing that I had to share it," Flanary said. "He deserves a whole bunch of credit for what he did." Shepherd said he was doing what any community member should do if given the opportunity. "I took a call to service for the young lady, and she said that her kids' bikes had been stolen and she told me that it was the second or third time the bikes had been stolen," he said. "It was obviously upsetting, but one of the things I noticed was that she wasn't just complaining, she wanted to know what she could do to get involved with the community to try to help fix the situation, which is not always what you hear. "My children are getting older, and we bought bikes a while back, and I don't know they had ridden them in a while. So I grabbed a bite to eat, and my wife and I talked about it, and we decided these are just sitting here, so why don't we see if they can't use them? It was a very simple, very quiet gesture." Nine-year-old Ethan and 7-year-old Mathew showed off their new wheels Thursday, grateful they would still have bikes to ride during Christmas break. Asked to choose between the two bikes — a boys red-and-black bike and a pastel girls bike — Ethan took the pink bike. "I like it. And real men can have pink," Ethan said. Ethan said he was surprised to hear that a police officer had acted the part of Santa Claus. "I did not think something like that would ever happen. Our bikes keep getting stolen. I got three bikes stolen, and it's really sad," said Ethan. "I think it's because people have drugs is the only thing I can say. I think they steal because they don't have enough money and they steal stuff. I don't like that my bikes keep getting stolen." Mathew's response to bikes being stolen? "Really, really mad." Flanary said the bikes would be kept inside the family's apartment from now on. After two decades in law enforcement, Shepherd, who came to Medford from Klamath Falls just over a year ago, said he was surprised by his gesture being made so public and emphasized he was just doing his job. "It was simply a matter of just caring about the community. I work here. I live here and I'm very vested," he said. "And just because you have to deal with bad people on a regular basis, that doesn't mean there aren't a million more great people out there. We're all part of the same community, and it's all about taking care of one another." — Reach freelance writer Buffy Pollock at [email protected].