A 45-year-old man from Russia has been arrested after he stole the wheelchair of a girl diagnosed with cerebral palsy and angered the whole neighbourhood.
Mum of four Lyudmila Arkhanova was left in shock after she found out that her 10-year-old daughter Ekaterina Mikhailova’s wheelchair was gone from their porch on Friday, 10th February.
But as the two needed to make it to a hospital appointment in the town of Beryozovsky, in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, Lyudmila had no other choice but to carry Ekaterina, who suffers of cerebral palsy in her arms.
Lyudmila said: “I went to the doctor’s office with my youngest daughter in my arms.
“I saw that Katyusha’s [Ekaterina’s] wheelchair was not in the entrance. I was just dumbfounded!
“Usually, there has always been a good attitude towards our family and my daughter, everyone is trying to help.
“And here we were simply left without the possibility of movement… I could not imagine that this could happen to us.
“[I] Immediately began to talk with neighbours, [and] turned to the police for a statement.”
The angered mum said: “I was told that they [neighbours] saw a drunken man coming out of the entrance with a wheelchair. It was around 7.20pm.”
Lyudmila then filed a report at the police station and claimed that she had previously left the wheelchair at the house’s porch ever since the family moved in three years ago.
She then asked social security authorities to try and get another wheelchair because of her eldest daughter’s limited movement.
Shortly after the police caught a 45-year-old local who they claimed was well known to them, and found Ekaterina’s wheelchair in his house, after which they returned it back to the family.
Sverdlovsk Police spokesperson Valery Gorelykh said: “Currently, the person going after other people’s wheelchairs in custody, he repented, confessed and apologized to the victim.
“The stolen item of child care has already been returned to its rightful owner.
“The woman [Lyudmila], with tears in her eyes, thanked the representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and called them magicians.”
Meanwhile, the 45-year-old man was put under investigation for theft and possible involvement in similar crimes committed in the district.
Gorelykh added: “Based on the results of the work that has begun, a procedural decision will be made.”
Media did not reveal why the man stole the wheelchair.
