Disabled Brooklyn Man's Motorized Scooter Hauled Off In Broad Daylight
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A disabled Brooklyn Heights man was asking for help Wednesday in tracking down his stolen motorized scooter.
As CBS 2's Tracee Carrasco reported, Charles Younger was hoping surveillance video of the man who took the irreplaceable scooter will bring it back.
Getting around is never easy for Younger.
"I have very bad neuropathy in my legs and feet, and if I walk any distance I tend to trip and fall -- I broke my hip that way," he said.
But since last Tuesday, it has been nearly impossible for the disabled 64-year-old.
A suspect appears in a surveillance video taking Younger's custom motorized scooter from outside his Brooklyn Heights home in broad daylight. The man lifts the 200-pound scooter into a white van and drives off – getting away with Younger's only transportation.
"That scooter gets me all over," Younger said. "I use it with Access-a-Ride, I go to the doctor's visits – it's an important part if my life."
Younger parked his scooter right here next to the garbage, so he is not sure if it was accidentally taken or brazenly stolen.
"This neighborhood puts out a lot of upscale garbage, so people go through collecting furniture," he said.
However, Younger finds it hard to believe that someone would mistake the scooter for trash.
"We have a rash of thefts going on," he said. "They're stealing high-end baby carriages in the neighborhood, and cell phones."
Younger said stolen scooters are often sold overseas for parts, and estimated his scooter's value at $2,500 – even though it is worth much more to him.
"That particular scooter I got through Medicare, and I can't replace it now," he said.
Police on Wednesday were reviewing the surveillance video to get a closer look at the van's license plate number. Anyone with information was asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS, log onto the Crime Stoppers Web site, or text tips to CRIMES (274637) and enter TIP577.
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