Custom disabled car stolen – found

(Update)

The vehicle has now been found.  The owner expresses his thanks for those who helped in the recovery.

A 68 year old Hamilton man is looking for help in finding his stolen car. Friends are appalled, because John Richard can barely walk. He has an amputated right lower leg. And, as Cindy Csordas reports, his car was stolen while parked in a handicapped spot at a medical centre in Hamilton.

John Richard struggles day to day with his mobility. A September 3rd visit to see his doctor changed his life.

John: “..went in, parked, went in to see doctor, came out, my car was gone.”

Gone was John Richard’s Pontiac Pursuit. Someone stole his car that was modified to allow him to drive since he has an amputated right lower leg.

“It took my mobility and independence away from me.”

John struggles to walk for very long. A deteriorated disc in his back makes the pain unbearable. He relied on his car to get him back and forth to monthly doctors appointments and social interaction.

“I’ve become a hermit. I used to go out in the afternoon downtown, see people I know, have coffee, joke and laugh. Now I’m stuck here!”

John says he parked his car in a handicapped spot closest to the front door of the centre.

Ron Reily is John’s friend: “It’s in a disabled spot and then they open it up and they see it’s not a normal car for driving. That’s the worst part of it are they morons? Are they completely brain dead?”

The medical centre’s parking lot is monitored by surveillance as you can see the video camera behind me but John’s car was parked just out of range so the theft was not captured on video.

The receptionist says she called Hamilton police. The thief would’ve had to pay to leave the parking lot with the stolen car. But paying for a new car while on disability is the last thing John can afford.

“I’m handicapped here. I’m stuck here. What do I do?”

john didn’t have theft insurance on his car. he says he hopes the thieves will just take his car for a joyride and once they run out of gas abandon it so it can be found. but in the meantime, he’s asking for your help and keep an eye out for his car.

It’s described as a 2005 red Pontiac Pursuit, licence plate number ARBX 582. John says there’s a partial picture of an Argentina flag on trunk and the modification inside the car is a left side gas pedal since John has a prosthetic right foot and needs to use his left foot to drive the car.