Vic: Woman left housebound after wheelchair stolen

AAP General News (Australia)
12-01-2001
Vic: Woman left housebound after wheelchair stolen

By Adam Cooper

MELBOURNE, Dec 1 AAP - A woman left housebound after her motorised wheelchair was stolen
from outside her flat today said the theft was like "having your legs cut off".

Suzanne Ward, 49, said the theft of her three-wheeled scooter meant she could remain
housebound or risk using a wheelchair that was unsafe to use outside.

"I am just so disgusted," she said of the thieves who stole the scooter from outside
her flat in Nunawading, in Melbourne's east.

"It's like cutting your legs off. I cannot believe people could be so awful.

"They are going to cop theirs one day. It's disgusting. They are the scum of the earth."

Police said Ms Ward's scooter, charger and batteries, valued at about $4,000, were
stolen from a car port out the front of her Station Street flat between midnight and 9am
(AEDT).

Ms Ward, who is confined to a wheelchair after seriously injuring her back in a fall
last year, said the thieves knew what they were doing.

"They had to know what they were doing because it has a key in it and if you try to
turn it on without taking off the charger it sounds an alarm ... and I didn't hear a thing,"

she said.

"I hope I get it back, because it would go anywhere, down the shops, to the movies."

She said her only option was to use a wheelchair that was unsafe for outside, particularly
when crossing railway lines or tram tracks.

The scooter is a blue Fortress 2000, about 1.5 metres long with a "Suzanne" number
plate at the rear.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

AAP ac/de

KEYWORD: WHEELCHAIR NIGHTLEAD

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