A man and woman are behind bars after a 16 year old’s wheelchair was stolen outside a Capitol Beach home on Sunday. LPD Captian Todd Kocian says they were called to the home in 2000 block of Surfside Drive by the teen’s father around 12:45 p.m.
The man said his son had left the manual wheelchair in the front yard next to the family vehicle before going inside. When the father came back outside to get the wheelchair it was gone. His son’s backpack and two debit cards were also on the wheelchair.
Kocian says about an hour later they began receiving fraud alerts on their phone from several businesses along West ‘O’ Street. The father began driving along West ‘O’ Street and saw an SUV parked next to an ATM in a parking lot. As he drove past, the man saw his son’s wheelchair in the backseat and called police.
The father continued to provide updates on the vehicles location and give police updates as to the vehicles location and officers eventually contacted 40-year-old Reynaldo Gonzalez Jr. and 35-year-old Latisha Castillo at the Walgreens, 13th & ‘O’ Street where both were taken into custody.
The wheelchair and other belongings were recovered. Over $700.00 in fraudulent charges were made. Officers also found nearly 15 grams of methamphetamine.
Gonzalez Jr was arrested for theft by unlawful taking $5,000 or more, criminal possession of a financial transaction device and possession of a controlled substance. Castillo was arrested for theft by unlawful taking $5,000 or more, possession of a controlled substance and and possession of drug paraphernalia.
