Thug runs off with stroke victim’s wheelchair in Bay Ridge

April 19, 2018 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Police officers Yaser Shohatee (left) and Mathew Slavin bought victim Wu Xu a new wheelchair. Photo courtesy of state Sen. Martin Golden’s office

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Cops are hunting for the heartless thug who grabbed a stroke victim’s wheelchair on hectic Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge and fled, leaving the victim holding onto her husband for dear life on Tuesday, police said.

The victim, Wu Xu, 55, had gotten out of the chair to walk into the Pine Apple Farm fruit store at 7402 Fifth Ave. to buy apples with her husband at 4:45 p.m., police said.

The couple took their eyes off the wheelchair for a few seconds and then discovered it was gone, police said. That stretch of commercial Fifth Avenue is filled with shops, restaurants and lots of hustle and bustle.

“This is a busy corner; lots of people around all the time. I’m shocked someone could get away with it,” Emma Francone told the Brooklyn Eagle as she hurried along the avenue Thursday.

“What kind of a person takes a wheelchair from a helpless lady?” added Jose Alvarez after the Eagle informed him of the theft.

An NYPD spokesperson told the Eagle that the crook was so swift, cops were unable to get a good description.

Officers Matthew Slavin and Yaser Shohatee searched for the thief but made no headway. The two cops took pity on Xu and went to a medical supply store to buy her a brand new set of wheels, along with a seat cushion.

Xu and her husband, who are from China, speak no English. They are in Bay Ridge visiting their son. Xu walks with difficulty since she suffered a stroke and requires a wheelchair.

State Sen. Marty Golden, whose office is on the block, helped Xu and her husband after the theft by giving them a place to wait for the cops and translating for them.

Golden called the cops’ purchase of a new wheelchair, “an extraordinary act of human compassion.”