Two chairs were taken from an Upper Hill home at 456 Wilbraham Road some time before 2 a.m. Sunday, according to city police.
SPRINGFIELD -- If such an honor as The Low Blow Award existed, it might be given to the individuals who swiped two wheelchairs from a Wilbraham Road home early Sunday morning.
A mother of a disabled girl called police around 2:07 a.m. Sunday to report that two men stole her daughter's wheelchairs from their home at 456 Wilbraham Road in the city's Upper Hill neighborhood.
It was not immediately clear where the wheelchairs had been stored, but the men were last seen around 1:50 a.m. pushing them northbound on Roosevelt Avenue, according to Springfield police reports.
Police said the woman's description of the thieves only indicated that both were black males. Officers were canvassing the area in search of the men, but no arrests had been made as of 2:30 a.m.
Wheelchair thefts are not that unusual in Massachusetts, which has strong laws supporting the rights of disabled residents and equally strong penalties for violators.
In Lawrence last month, an 8-year-old boy's wheelchair was stolen from his family's front porch. That case attracted widespread media attention and led to an outpouring of support for the boy, who has cerebral palsy.
THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate location of where two wheelchairs were stolen from an Upper Hill home early Sunday morning: