A woman in a wheelchair was violently shoved across a road and mugged in New Westminster Tuesday, just days after a similarly appalling robbery in neighbouring Burnaby.
Police say the 53-year-old victim was crossing the street at 6th Avenue and 7th Street at around 5:45 p.m. when a man came up behind her and started pushing her wheelchair.
"My understanding is he basically was swerving her around and laughing while he was doing this," Staff Sgt. Paul Hyland told ctvbc.ca.
The woman suffers an undisclosed but significant medical condition, Hyland said.
During the attack, her assailant started rummaging through her purse, which was slung over the back of the wheelchair. He snatched her wallet before running away.
Investigators say they have spoken to Transit Police, and don't believe the mugging has any connection to the violent theft of an iPad from a deaf women with cerebral palsy last Thursday on the SkyTrain.
The incidents were similar, however, in that both victims were in wheelchairs, and both robberies inspired Good Samaritans who witnessed them to spring into action.
In New Westminster, a number of people, including an off-duty firefighter, saw the theft and chased a suspect into a nearby park. They tried to detain him, but he managed to flee again.
Police managed to locate a suspect shortly after as he tried to hide in a local business, but were unable to retrieve the stolen wallet.
Michael James Starblanket, a 28-year-old New Westminster resident, has been charged with robbery and obstructing a police officer. He is being held in custody pending his next court appearance on May 23.
