by Andrew King
Junior Nate Watt has Spina Bifida, a disorder that makes walking a stress on his body. While he’s capable of getting around, doing so on a regular basis would be an unnecessary exertion of energy.
“That’s why I have a wheelchair,” he said. “If I walk more than a quarter of a mile, I’m winded.”
When Watt left a friend’s house on Sheridan Saturday, he expected to find his wheelchair waiting for him in the hallway. To his surprise, however, the chair was gone, with no trace of its whereabouts.
After searching fruitlessly, Watt went to Public Safety and filed a police report. He was left with no way to get around.
“I knew that my wheelchair was out there somewhere and I had no control over what was happening to it,” he said. “[The police] had never heard of somebody stealing a wheelchair before.”
Eventually, Watt was able to get his backup chair from his parents, but was at the mercy of his friends for help for much of the weekend.
“If I wanted to get back to my apartment, I had to get a ride or walk back,” he said. “I’m really happy with the people that were supportive of me.
Watt and his friends spent the weekend telling others through word of mouth and social media, and eventually found a lead.
“Monday, an anonymous tip was dropped that said that a person had it in their house,” Watt said. “The police found it sitting in his living room.”
The suspect is a Capital student, and Watt plans to press charges for the theft.
“What they told me is that I could press charges or just say, ‘yay, the wheelchair is back,’” he said.
The chair was custom and worth over $7,000, so the suspect may very well face a felony charge. As of Wednesday, no police report was available, and Public Safety said that the case was still under investigation.
In the end, Watt was more shocked at the incident than anything, and said that he never imagined his wheelchair would be stolen.
“I guess my number one question is why would you steal a wheelchair?” he said. “It’s one thing to get drunk and take a wheelchair and wake up the next day and say, ‘oh no, I stole a wheelchair,’ and turn it in. But this guy hid it for three days in his apartment.”
aking@capital.edu
