Stolen minivan
Still not returned to Verdun family
Wheelchair-accessible van for boy with cerebral palsy sits in an Iberville tow yard collecting dust and bills amid police delays as the family tries to figure out how to get there to retrieve it.
“We were so happy when we heard we were going to be getting the van back. I had no idea it was going to be like this.”
ANN PARASKEVOPOULOS, MOTHER OF DISABLED TWIN BOYS
“People have offered to help with ... whatever costs there are.”
SUN YOUTH ‘ S ERIC KINGSLEY
A week after a Verdun family’s stolen wheelchairaccessible van was located by an honest scrapyard owner, the vehicle is still sitting at a tow yard in Iberville – and the family is struggling to make do without it.
Transportation has been a daily challenge for Ann Paraskevopoulos and her family of seven ever since her two youngest sons were born prematurely 14 years ago.
The twins have cerebral palsy. Ross can walk, while Philip has always needed a wheelchair and has under- gone many surgeries related to his condition.
For many years, the family managed without a vehicle, hauling Philip’s wheelchair onto public transit for outings, and an adapted school bus has transported Philip to and from school at the Mackay Centre.
Last September, another family with a disabled child gave them a used minivan that had been adapted for passengers in wheelchairs.
It meant that instead of an hour’s ride on the school bus each way – the bus makes detours to pick up other children – Philip got a 15-minute ride to school from his older sister, Jennifer.
And he got to go on after- school and weekend outings with the family more easily.
But on March 10, the 1991 van was stolen from the parking lot of a Lasalle Walmart where Jennifer works. A few days later, the family contacted The Gazette, which published a story on the family’s plight.
Allan Zinman, who runs a scrapyard in Iberville, saw the story and suspected the vehicle he had purchased a few days earlier was the family’s stolen van.
Instead of scrapping it and selling the metal for a profit, he called The Gazette to confirm the vehicle identification number and then called police in St. Jean sur Richelieu.
The family was thrilled, but on Wednesday, almost a week after police were notified, Ann Paraskevopoulos had heard nothing more.
Cedric Graveline, who owns a towing company near Zinman’s scrapyard, said police told him to pick up the vehicle last Thursday, which he did.
Graveline did the verification work and expected police to contact the owner to pick it up that same day. But no one came.
There is now a towing bill of $120 to pay, plus an $18-perday fee to hold the vehicle, he noted.
Paraskevopoulos said she expected police to contact her once they had done what was necessary for their investigation.
“Nobody called us,” said Paraskevopoulos. “We were so happy when we heard we were going to be getting the van back. I had no idea it was going to be like this. We never had one single phone call.”
At a reporter’s urging, she called the St. Jean sur Richelieu police on Wednesday, and she was told to have her daughter report to the station.
An officer will accompany her to the towing company, and she will have to pay to release the van, she was told.
A police spokesperson told The Gazette he could not comment on the investigation and did not have time to look into whether the thief had been arrested.
The man who sold the van for $400 to Zinman’s son, Michael, told him it had belonged to his disabled father, who had died and that the registration papers could not be found.
Michael Zinman demanded the man’s driver’s licence and made a copy of it.
This was handed over to police, as was a security video when police requested it a week later.
Meanwhile, the Paraskevopoulos family are trying to figure out how to get to Iberville without a vehicle.
About a dozen Gazette readers have offered to help, and the Sun Youth organization is collecting donations.
“I’m sure we can help her get down to St. Jean, and several people have offered to help with the cost of repairs, gas, insurance and whatever other costs there are related to the theft,” said Eric Kingsley, coordinator of emergency services.