Wheelchair stolen from woman with MS, 36

Wheelchair stolen from Brooklyn woman, 36, with multiple sclerosis

BY THOMAS TRACY

 
Police are asking for the public’s help in finding a heartless thief who swiped a 36-year-old woman’s electric wheelchair in Brooklyn, officials said Thursday.

The crook jumped into the empty wheelchair as it sat on 86th St. near W. 12th St. in Gravesend at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, where victim Margaret Leon, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and has trouble walking, was inside a nearby real estate office where she works.

Surveillance images released by police show the man motoring away with the wheelchair, which is valued at $3,000.

“The person that took it from me took a lot,” Leon told CBS News. “(He) took my legs.”


The thief remained at large Thursday.

“They have to be sick-minded,” Leon said of the crook. “I don’t know who would steal a wheelchair.”

Authorities asked anyone with information regarding his whereabouts to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.