Life on a Sofa - Wheelchair Stolen

Police in Sykesville say they have some strong leads in the theft of a wheelchair taken from a paralyzed man.

Police in Sykesville say they have some strong leads in the theft of a wheelchair.

The owner, who is paralyzed from the chest down, tells Suzanne Collins he's had a very hard time managing since the theft.

Jimmy Sawyer kisses his daughter from the couch. He's been stuck there a lot since his specially fitted Ultralight wheelchair was stolen late Saturday night.

It's a $3,600 chair. He'd left it in his driveway when he picked his wife up from work that night.

"The wheelchair I had I could do anything. I could help my wife do dishes, laundry, take care of my 4-year-old daughter," Sawyer said.

"We look around and like 'Where's the wheelchair? Is somebody playing a joke on us?'" said Amber Sawyer, Jimmy's wife.

Sykesville police are on the case, and they've made progress.

"We have received two very sold leads. One member of the community came forth and said they believe they saw two young people, one riding in the wheelchair down the street," said Sykesville police chief John Williams.

Still, police say it's likely the custom wheelchair is trashed, and that scares Jimmy Sawyers, who's had to use a cheaper rental chair that's painful to sit in. He's gotten bedsores and worries he may be hospitalized. He says he wishes the thieves could know what it's like to live like he does.

"My punishment for them would be put them in a wheelchair and have them do the things, live their life for a day in a wheelchair," Sawyer said.

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