A disabled man's motorized wheelchair was stripped of its parts at a Brooklyn intersection when he fell off and was taken away in an ambulance, the wheelchair left on the street.
Richard Vega fell out of the motorized wheelchair at the intersection of Humboldt and Debevoise streets in Williamsburg two weeks ago, fracturing his pelvis. Paramedics responded and took Vega away in an ambulance, but left the wheelchair on the sidewalk because it wouldn't fit in vehicle.
Vega's brother returned to retrieve $7,000 wheelchair, but found it totally stripped of everything from the controls to the wheels to the motor.
"It's like they steal a car and they strip it for parts," said Carlos Vega.
"He needs his wheelchair to get around," he said. "I can't be coming back and forth to push him around."
Richard Vega, who suffers from asthma and diabetes, remains hospitalized and is left disillusioned.
"What is this world coming to? I'm handicapped. Do you not understand, they might as well bury me," he said.
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Vega said he has yet to hear back from his insurance company to see if they'll replace the wheelchair. Police have not made any arrests in the case, but Vega believes it took the work of more than one person.
