Paraplegic, 84, robbed of $11,000 wheelchair
Thieves have made off with an $11,000 electric wheelchair, leaving an 84-year-old woman without the freedom to leave her home.
“It’s very upsetting. I don’t know why anyone would do this,” said Verna Janzen, who rents a small home with another tenant in the northeast community of Marlborough. “That wheelchair is my life. It is my only means of transportation whenever I go out.”
Police are asking for the public’s help in locating a black Invacare TDX-SP electric wheelchair stolen sometime between Oct. 11 and Oct. 18 in the 1500 block of Mardale Way N.E.
Investigators are asking anyone who deals with or is purchasing a second-hand wheelchair to be on the lookout. The wheelchair’s serial number is #09GE000007.
Janzen’s roommate, Bill Medve, said he was taking out the garbage this week when he discovered the side door of the property’s detached garage had been broken into, the wood completely splintered. “I cannot imagine who would want to do something like this. My heart really goes out to Verna,” he said.
Medve added Verna uses a manual wheelchair to get around the house, but needs the electric wheelchair when she goes out.
He usually helps her make the transfer from the house to the garage, if she is going out.
“She’s a frail, little lady. But she is a wonderful person.”
Medve added Janzen is still recovering from another robbery when some of her other things were stolen at a different property two years ago. “And now to have this happen, it’s very hard,” he said.
Anyone with information about the location of the wheelchair, or about the break and enter, is asked to call the CPS non-emergency line at 403-266-1234.