Wheelchair thief on tape

Wednesday, Dec 19, 2007 - 06:48 AM




By NBC News Channel
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Police in Hagerstown, Maryland are investigating a crime that left a paraplegic man with no way to get around.

Tony Faison was shopping at Wal-Mart early Friday morning when his wheelchair was stolen right from the lobby

The whole thing was caught on tape.

Faison had done it many times before; transferred into an electric shopping cart, then left his wheelchair in the Wal-Mart entrance under the greeter's care.

This time when he came back with his grocery bags, his wheelchair was gone.

"I was shocked to tell you the truth, I was shocked and then I got mad and I started to worry," Faison said.

"I couldn't believe it because I'm thinking, 'Who would take our wheelchair with all these millions of Wal-Mart wheelchairs around here?' and I just couldn't believe someone would do something like that," added his mother, Linda.

Tony was at Wal-Mart until 4 a.m. filing a police report, and because his chair was gone, police had to follow him home and carried him inside.

A surveillance video shows a white man with a white cap in the act of stealing Tony's wheelchair.

Tony says it will take him months to get the $6,000 chair replaced through MedicAid.

Until then, he has no way to get around.

"I slide on the floor to get around. I have to get on the floor and slide everywhere," he explained.

"He can't get to work, he can't get any fresh air, he can't go outside, he can't do anything in the kitchen, he's got to crawl on the floor and it hurts his back," Linda added.

Hagerstown City Police are still investigating the matter.

Tony's mother says she wishes Wal-Mart would take some responsibility since the chair was placed under their greeter's care.

This is an official statement given by Wal-Mart:

"It's a sad turn of events when a disabled customer cannot leave a wheelchair unattended. However, the role of a people greeter is to greet and assist customers as they come through the doors, whether that be with directing them to a certain area of the store or to help with a return or exchange. They can not be responsible for a customer's personal items. We are working closely with the local authorities to assist them in catching the persons responsible. We would refer you to them for any additional information."

http://www.wcbd.com/midatlantic/cbd/...2-19-0004.html