Cigarette-smoking crook steals woman’s electric wheelchair on NYC street — and cops help vicitm in heartwarming way

Steven Vago, Joe Marino, Amanda Woods, Desheania Andrews
photo of accused thief
A cigarette-craving crook stole an elderly woman's electric wheelchair and then went on a joyride with it before disappearing down a Brooklyn street earlier this month, police said.

She’s back in the saddle again.

An elderly Brooklyn woman who had her mobility scooter stolen got a surprise from NYPD cops — who presented her with a replacement ride Wednesday as they hunt for the heartless crook.

“Thank you, Jesus,” 70-year-old victim, Rosalyn Johnson, exclaimed as the cops gave her the new chair at her Crown Heights home.

“This changed my life.”

The trouble for Johnson began on Sept. 1, when a woman with a cigarette dangling from her mouth swiped the $1,500 chair as the 70-year-old shopped in a deli on Troy Avenue and Sterling Place.

Johnson realized what happened after she left the store.

“The crackheads will steal anything that’s not nailed down,” the 70-year-old victim, Rosalyn Johnson, told The Post about the heartless thief.

The alleged captured in pictures cruising away in a woman’s wheelchair outside a Crown Heights bodega, cops said.
The alleged captured in pictures cruising away in a woman’s wheelchair outside a Crown Heights bodega, cops said.

Video released by the NYPD shows the accused thief riding on a sidewalk in the electric wheelchair while a cigarette dangles from her lips.

She was last seen fleeing westbound on Sterling Place, police said.

Johnson — who has been in a wheelchair since suffering a stroke in 2011 — told The Post she’s forgiven the perp.

“I feel sorry for her. That’s how it goes in this neighborhood,” Johnson said while calling the thief a “crackhead” outside her Crown Heights home.

The accused crook went on a joyride after stealing the wheelchair.
The accused crook went on a joyride after stealing the wheelchair.

“I feel sorry for her. She has to fight her own addiction.”

The senior citizen owned the motorized mobility aid for a year when it was stolen from her.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry said the new wheelchair was bought after cops received money from the NYC Police Foundation.

He promised to find the accused thief.

“We’re going to make you famous and we’re going to arrest you,” Daughtry said. “And then we’re going to take you to church with Mrs. Johnson because that’s what she wants to be done.”

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