Milwaukee mother Ceree Hall never thought she would be putting her daughters’ lives in danger by buying them the hottest new gadget – standing, self-balancing scooters known as hoverboards, or balance wheels.
The electric contraptions allowed Hall’s daughters, ages 7 and 11, to glide around their neighborhood near 40th and Wright streets on the city’s northwest side – or at least that was the idea before the girls were robbed at gunpoint for their wheels this week.
“He put the gun in the back of my little daughter’s head who’s 7,” Hall told WISN. “This is crazy. I can’t believe it happened that quick. I can’t believe it happened right here in front of everybody.
“There was plenty of people out there,” she said.
Hall said she bought two hoverboards for her girls over the weekend, and they were robbed the next day.
“He snatched it from under her,” Hall said. “She almost fell, but she caught her balance.”
The boards are sold online for between $300 and $400, the news site reports. Hall said she wanted to alert parents to potential problems before they spend the money.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think my kids would be getting robbed out here,” she said.
TMJ 4 detailed exactly how the hold-up went down.
“Ceree Hall says her two girls were riding the popular devices at 40th and Wright streets when a silver Honda with tinted windows pull up beside them,” according to the new site. “She says four men were inside the car and one of them jumped out, put a gun to the 7-year-old girl’s head and demanded she get off the hoverboard.
“He pointed the gun at her 11-year-old sister and threatened to shoot her if she didn’t shut up.”
Hall told the site she heard the girls yelling, but the suspects were gone by the time she arrived.
Milwaukee Police told the media they’ve received at least one report of another stolen hoverboard in the city, but did not provide details of that incident.
The incidents in Milwaukee follow similar robberies in other cities involving hoverboards, or balance wheels.
A Philadelphia man was robbed at gunpoint for the device at a Chinese take-out restaurant around 10 p.m. Oct. 5, Philly Voice reports.
The robber in that incident was already inside the restaurant when the victim stopped in on the device to pick up some food. Philadelphia police said the suspect left the establishment when he saw the board, retrieved a silver handgun from his vehicle, and returned to hold up those waiting in line for takeout.
“In the video, five or six victims in the restaurant can be seen turning over items from their pockets as the suspect waves the handgun …,” according to the news site. “Police said the suspect then fled the store, put the hoverboard into the trunk of his vehicle and drove away.”
Video of the Philadelphia robbery was posted to YouTube by Extra Bad News in hopes of identifying the culprit.
WISN spoke with one Milwaukee shop owner who sells the balance wheels, but he refused to be identified and said he doesn’t put them on display over fears he could become the next victim.
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