Thieves steal Brazoria County boy's Christmas gift hoverboard from right under his feet

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Detectives are looking for two thieves who snatched a new hoverboard from a 12-year-old boy in Brazoria County, while he was riding it.

James Kelley, Jr., was at a park down the street from his home on Sunday in the Lakes of Savannah subdivision. He was on the hoverboard, he says, shooting baskets on the basketball court when two older teens approached and asked to play as well. Before he knew it, one of them knocked him on the ground. "They had pushed me," James said. "(I) fell inside the mud and hurt my knee."

Kelley just got the hoverboard for Christmas. "It's scum bucket type stuff. You really have to be a low down dirty person to do something like that to a kid," said James Kelley, Sr. He says it cost more than $500 and it's the only thing James asked for.

James says the guys didn't say anything before shoving him off the board, grabbing it and running. They got into an SUV down the street and took off. It happened so fast he says he can't remember any distinguishing characteristics of the thieves which might help authorities.

This is the latest in a rash of hoverboard thefts, according to police. HPD says in the last 90 days, they've had 100 reports of hoverboards stolen, though 80 of them were from a single pawn shop. Ashleigh Mote has now been charged in relation to another hoverboard heist of a valet outside a Houston nightclub. We've seen teens elsewhere robbed for the boards at gunpoint.

James is frustrated because he works hard in the classroom, plays sports and stays out of trouble. The lesson he learned here: that some will try to take the easy way to get things rather than working for it. "The fact that they stole my stuff that my parents really worked hard for, is kinda depressing," said James Kelley, Jr.

The case is under investigation by the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office. If you know anything about this theft, you can call detectives.