Caught on camera: Thief rides away on $4k wheelchair, stranding disabled Edmonton senior

Diana Kinnear had her power wheelchair stolen on Sunday.

EDMONTON — An Edmonton senior is pleading with a man she says stole her $4,000 wheelchair to bring it back.

Security video provided to CTV News Edmonton shows the man — dressed all in black with a full face covering — enter an open garage before driving away on the power wheelchair a few minutes later.

“It makes me feel violated that somebody would steal. I mean, if someone really needed something I’m more than willing to help them out, but to take my wheelchair...I need my wheelchair,” Diana Kinnear said Tuesday night.

According to Kinnear, the wheelchair was taken from her garage in the area of 118 Avenue and 94 Street on Sunday Jan. 10 at 9 a.m.

The Edmonton senior said her garage door was accidentally left open by her roommate. When she went outside to close the door, her chair was gone.

Kinnear reported it to police, who told her the local pawn shops will be notified.

“The (EPS) officer that was here was totally wonderful. He went through my videos, he got all the information he needed, he took the serial number from the wheelchair and all the parts,” she said.

The wheelchair is described as a Jazzy Select 6. Kinnear provided images from the owner’s manual. The chair has a red battery cover (pictured below), but Kinnear said her seat and armrests are both black.

Kinnear is hoping residents in the Alberta Avenue area keep an eye out for it.

The chair is insured, but Kinnear may now be stuck with a $1,000 deductible, which she said is a hard hit for a senior on a pension.

“I want my property back. Am I mad at them? I don’t think so. What I’d like to say to them is that if they’re really hard up, and need some help, come knock on my door,” Kinnear said, adding she’s known in her neighbourhood to give people food and pay them for odd jobs.

The Edmonton Police Service accepts crime tips online, at any station and over the phone at 780-423-4567.