EVANS, N.Y. (WIVB) — An Evans man with autism is very grateful after getting a new e-bike from the Erie County Sheriff’s Office.

He got the new bike because the one he made with his bare hands had been stolen while he was at work last month in Derby, while it was locked.

Nathan Enser needs a reliable e-bike everyday. His autism makes it impossible to drive and he was stunned to see his creation vanish.

“I saw there were skid marks and I’m like, oh, maybe a co-worker just brought it to the back of the store then I looked for it and it was just gone,” Nathan said.

The theft was stunning, because Nathan had poured his time, his money and all his wit into building the bike so he can get to work. The bike itself was impressive with GPS, weather tracking and tire pressure monitoring.

“Pretty depressed because like that’s my vehicle I can’t afford a car so I’m like, oh, the bike will work and then I didn’t think they would steal something like that apparently I was wrong,” Nathan said.

Nathan’s story caught the attention of not only some local businesses, but also the Erie County Sheriff’s Office.

“We saw your report on the news and we acted upon it,” said Sergeant Jeremy Lehning of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff’s Office got together with the union for deputies and identified a new e-bike on Amazon that would be perfect for Nathan’s needs, using discretionary funds for the purchase.

“We love when we can actually step up and reach out to someone and help them out especially someone in Nathan’s situation where this is something he definitely needed for sure,” Lehning said.

And, on Thursday, sheriff’s officials personally delivered Nathan’s new e-bike to him.

“It will suffice for getting to and from work and all that and just save up money hopefully potentially rebuild the one that was stolen but that’s a long ways away,” Lehning said.

That’s right, Nathan plans to rebuild the e-bike that was stolen and turn his hobby into a small business.

“I’ll build them in my shed for people if anyone else has issues they can’t drive they have electric bikes or scooters that they need fixed I can do all that for them,” Nathan said.

Nathan is thoughtful and driven, and very determined to not let the theft of his previous e-bike slow him down.

Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. See more of his work here.