WARREN, Mich. – Anthony Cupp was so happy when he finally earned his new Nike Kevin Durant basketball shoes.
The 13-year-old gets straight A's in advanced math at Lincoln Middle School in Warren. He just made the 8th-grade basketball team. By mowing his neighbor's lawn, Anthony saved up enough money for the shoes he has been dreaming about.
He said he was shocked Thursday after school when an older, bigger kid snatched those shoes right off of his feet at MacArthur and Jewett Avenue while he was walking to his stepfather's home.
"Five or 10 seconds it happened," said Anthony. "I was shocked. I was just walking and then all of the sudden someone grabbed me and picked me up, and then he just dropped me onto the ground. Then he grabbed my ankles and took off my shoes and ran."
His mother, Janiesa Cupp, saw him come home barefoot in the snow.
"Barefoot. Snowing. Wind. Freezing. He's uttering to me, 'My feet, my feet. I can't feel my feet.' It's horrifying," she said.
It was Anthony's first time walking home from school. His mother was in therapy after a rough surgery and her car is broken down. Now, she's heartbroken to know what her son earned on his own was taken from him.
"He saves and earns for the things that he wears and he does have nice things, and that's his thing. That's his hobby. He likes Nike. He loves sports. He wants to wear nice things and he works for it," said Janiesa.