Caught on camera: Brazen theft outside local store

Brazen theft of senior's walker A brazen theft is caught on camera. CTV's Mike Arsalides speaks with the 86-year-old woman who had her walker stolen while she shopped.

Surveillance video captures the brazen moment a man steals an 86-year-old woman’s walker in broad daylight.

As part of her normal routine, Inez Wingate placed her walker in the front foyer of a store on Wellington Street in Barrie and went inside to do her shopping.  She says she always leaves her walker at the front door so she can shop with a cart.

But this time when she returned for her walker, it was gone.

The video shows the man return his cart and approach Wingate's walker.   He seemingly tests it out, and then he just casually walks away with it.

“I had put money away every time I could to get this walker,” said Wingate.  “And he took it from me!”

The 65-year-old Barrie man was arrested, and the $500 walker was returned to Wingate.

The man was charged with theft and Wingate says he called her to offer an apology, along with an excuse.

She says he told her he took the walker because he didn’t think it belonged to anyone.  But she wasn’t buying it. “I gave him heck!  I said, how dare you take my walker when you knew it was somebody’s walker!”

She says the man begged her to ask police to drop the charges but says she has other plans.  Wingate says he needs to learn a lesson.  “I think he should be charged so that he won’t do it again.  If he does it to me, he’s going to do it to somebody else.”