11-year-old makes plea for return of stolen GoKart

TAMPA (FOX 13) - A little boy is heartbroken after thieves made off with two of his racing GoKarts.

They items were stolen from a trailer at Florida Wrecker Sales in Tampa, just north of East Hillsborough Avenue.

The GoKarts are no toys. They're worth thousands of dollars.

One of them belongs to 11-year-old Montgomery Cherry. He races in the Ocala Gran Prix and has been behind the wheel for five years.

"They say practice makes perfect, but you need perfect practice to make perfect," Montgomery explained of his philosophy on racing.

For the first time, he's second in points in his series, but with the next race coming up, he's short four wheels.

"It's very sad that someone would do this," he said.

A week and a half ago, criminals broke into his father's lot at Florida Wrecker Sales, stealing Montgomery's racing kart and a second one used by his sister and father.

Surveillance video captured the suspects just after they sliced a hole in the fence and chopped padlocks off a trailer.

"They ran into the lot, opened the trailer, grabbed the karts out of the trailer and walked through the parking lot, through the fence, into the back of a pickup truck," Ryan Cherry said. "Total time they were here was 15 minutes and they were gone."

The total value lost is estimated at more than $12,000.

"It has the onboard computer so you can see the RPMs and lap times and heat," Ryan Cherry said about his son's racing kart.

The biggest loss, however, can't be measured in dollars.

"He's been very destroyed over it," Ryan Cherry said.

"It means a lot to us," Montgomery Cherry said tearfully. "We love racing and they should bring it back because this is just what we do."

The thieves probably had no idea how much they were really stealing.

For now, someone is lending Montgomery a racing kart so he can still compete. He's not losing hope that his own wheels will cross many more finish lines.

"My kids would be thrilled to have their karts back," Ryan Cherry said. "It would definitely make my son's day, put him back in the race, back in the series."

Surveillance video caught a red, extended cab pickup truck leaving a nearby parking lot with the stolen racing karts. Anyone with information about the crime or were the karts are is asked to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.