Police: Thief takes York woman’s wheelchair for apparent joy ride

A disabled woman’s motorized wheelchair vanished for more than 12 hours this week after thieves took the vehicle for an apparent joy ride.

A 49-year-old woman told York police her gray Hoveround wheelchair was taken while it was charging, according to a police report on the theft. The wheelchair was taken from the home on York Park sometime between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14.

The woman told police the chair was in the shed when she left the house at 4 p.m., but it was gone by the time she got back four hours later. A friend of hers told her he saw a suspicious man around the area where the wheelchair was charging around 5 p.m.

The wheelchair reportedly had a storage bag on the back that contained a lighthouse wind chime and a box cutter.

The next morning, a patrol car traveled down York Place around 5:30 a.m. and noticed the $1,000 wheelchair was back in the shed. The thief or thieves had apparently returned the wheelchair after taking it out for an overnight joy ride.

This story was originally published November 22, 2015 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Police: Thief takes York woman’s wheelchair for apparent joy ride."