Victoria, BC – The plight of a woman whose mobility scooter was stolen touched John McCann.
When the Sidney man read that a woman’s mobility scooter had been stolen he felt that he needed to help. The woman, who has limited mobility and for whom the scooter is her only means of getting around, discovered that her scooter had been stolen from her locked storage area when she was in the process of leaving for a doctor’s appointment. VicPD officers attended, took her report and then drove her to her appointment. We then notified our community that we were looking for the scooter in an attempt both to locate the thief and to restore the woman’s independence. Officers appealed to the public for help in locating the mobility scooter on August 11th, 2017
Seeing our Facebook posts and tweets about the incident, several members of the public came forward with offers of help. In the end, the woman’s insurance covered the scooter, but she faced a $500 deductible.
That’s where John came in. “I wanted to replace the entire thing,” McCann said, “but she said that insurance would cover most of it, so I offered to make up the difference.”
Thanks to John McCann’s generosity, the woman is again able to get to appointments, run errands, purchase groceries and enjoy the beauty that Victoria has to offer.
“When a member of our wider community steps up to help out someone who has been victimized by a thoughtless crime like this, it warms the heart,” Chief Constable Del Manak said. “I’m thankful to John and to all of our citizens who step up to help in circumstances like these.”
Investigators are still looking for the stolen scooter and the culprit and are asking anyone with information to call (250) 995-7654, or to call Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 to remain anonymous.