Calgary police have recovered and returned an electric wheelchair worth about $10,000 stolen from an 84-year-old woman in October.
Chase Arthur Neault, 29, of Calgary has been charged in connection with the incident and in relation to a stolen vehicle.
The theft happened during the week of Oct. 11-18, when someone broke into a detached garage in the 1500 block of Mardale Way N.E. and stole a black Invacare TDX-SP electric wheelchair.
The wheelchair belonged to 84-year-old Verna Janzen, who rents a small home with another tenant in the northeast community of Marlborough. She uses a manual wheelchair to get around her house, but needs the electric wheelchair when she goes out.
On Tuesday, patrol officers from District 3 recognized a stolen vehicle driving on 14 Street N.W. near 64 Avenue and followed the vehicle with assistance from the police HAWCS helicopter until the vehicle stopped at a home in the 4300 block of 38 Street N.E.
After watching a man and woman exit the vehicle and go inside the home, police officers entered and noticed an electrical wheelchair “that seemed out-of-place,” according to a Calgary police press release.
The officers checked the serial number listed on the wheelchair and matched it to the one that had been stolen from Janzen in October. They returned it to her on Wednesday.
“I was very pleased. I’m glad it’s returned,” said Janzen, who hasn’t yet used the wheelchair since it was brought back. “I hope it’s still running properly. There are some things missing off of it.”
Her roommate Bill Medve said that a charger, roughly the size of shoebox, had been stolen along with the wheelchair, but it wasn’t returned. A foot rest is also missing from the chair.
“We don’t even know at this point if it works,” Medve said.
Janzen said she’s had the chair, which weighs about 350 pounds, for the past five years. She said the past few months without it have been difficult, as she’s had to rely on a friend to take her where she needs to go in her manual chair.
Neault has been charged with two counts of breaching a court condition and one count each of possession of stolen property over $5,000, dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, and driving without insurance. The female suspect was released without charges and an investigation into the stolen wheelchair and stolen vehicle are ongoing.
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