Boy’s wheelchair taken from outside home

"I never felt like someone would take a kid's wheelchair," she said.

Police told Kamau they searched they neighborhood. She said they advised her to call scrap metal yards in the area and describe the chair, which is black and green and has the name "Kamau" embroidered on the seat. The chair was not motorized because William needs to be pushed.

Methuen police Lt. Gregory Gallant said whoever took the chair was likely to scrap it, though he has also seen cases where equipment is taken off the curb innocently, having been mistaken for trash. Kamau said that the "brand new" chair was clearly waiting to be loaded into her vehicle, and would not have been mistaken for garbage.

"(The police) might keep an eye at the pawn shops, but there are no suspects and no evidence," Gallant said.

Gallant warned against leaving valuable items outdoors unattended, even for a short period of time in a neighborhood like Kamau's, which he deemed very safe. He said lawn mowers are also frequently stolen from people's yards under similar circumstances.

"They will steal wheelchairs just as often as they'd steal anything else, anything that's not locked down," he said

Margaret Kamau said she is holding out hope that someone will return the chair before it is pawned or broken down.

"That's the only thing he has for his movement," she said. "If someone has it somewhere, please bring it back."

___

(c)2014 The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.)

Visit The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.) at www.eagletribune.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services