Police in Leonia NJ recently arrested a Palisades Park man accused of stealing a wheelchair from a disabled teenager.

The theft went down around 3:35 p.m. According to law enforcement, the heinous crime was committed outside the teenage victim’s residence, which is located on the 200 block of Broad Avenue in Palisades Park, New Jersey. The site of the theft is just two blocks from the border that links Palisades Park to Leonia.

The Leonia Police Department investigated the theft incident and alerted officers on patrol. Leonia NJ investigators also obtained surveillance video of the theft in progress.

Sometime later, a Leonia NJ patrol cop spotted the stolen wheelchair headrest outside a building on 511 Orchard Avenue in Palisades Park, New Jersey. It turned out that this was the residence of the suspect.

While the Leonia police officer took a closer look at the wheelchair, which was situated behind a couple of garbage cans, the suspect walked out of the house. The Leonia NJ cop subsequently placed the suspect under arrest.

The suspect is an 18-year-old male from Palisades Park, NJ. He has been charged with multiple crimes, including theft of movable property and unlawful taking of a means of conveyance.

After being arrested and charged, the suspect was remanded to the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, NJ. He was being held at the jail in lieu of a $25K bail amount.

Meanwhile, the wheelchair has been returned to the victim, who is reportedly a 14-year-old Palisades Park boy who suffers from cerebral palsy. The stolen wheelchair is said to have a value of $12,000, making it an extremely expensive loss for the victim and his family. That’s why it is particularly good news that Leonia NJ law enforcement was able to return the motorized wheelchair to its rightful owner.

For further information about this case, view the NJ.com article, “Man Arrested in Theft of Wheelchair from Teen with Cerebral Palsy.”