# So there I was, trying to get of my wheelchair... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 7, 2008, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-i-was-trying-to-get-of-my-wheelchair/436611 "2008-02-07T00:37:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paragod22510](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b5ac83/32.png) [@Paragod22510](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paragod22510)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-i-was-trying-to-get-of-my-wheelchair/436611/1 "2008-02-07T00:37:50Z")
I witnessed a car getting stolen today. It was pretty interesting. I’m outside of a hospital with a patient on my stretcher, about to load the patient into the ambulance when I hear tires squeal. I looked back and I see a woman in her 60’s sitting on the ground yelling, “HEY, COME BACK HERE!” It seemed like a cartoon. She’s shaking her fist angrily in the air, as the discharge paperwork danced their way to the ground like large snow flakes. This lady actually fell backwards to avoid being run over by the “gentleman” who stole her car. She got out of her car to help her mother who was waiting in a wheel chair. Her mother was just discharged from the hospital. The woman had exited her car, left it running and her driver’s door was open. The “gentleman” jumped in and took off. My partner got a good look at the guy, and immediately ran inside to get security. I grabbed my cell and called 911. Takoma Park Police were on the scene within 3 minutes, and after looking at video camera footage, identified the guy as a patient that was just discharged from the emergency room. The police have the “gentleman’s” name, address, etc. Bad guys are stupid… ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-i-was-trying-to-get-of-my-wheelchair/436611/2 "2008-02-07T01:34:29Z")
Thanks for posting this, a very interesting tale. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-i-was-trying-to-get-of-my-wheelchair/436611/3 "2008-02-07T01:46:09Z")
Kind of like the story of the bank robber who wrote the stick up note on the back of his deposit slip. Caught within the hour. Yeah, criminals are a superstitious, cowardly and stupid lot. ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy8467](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Cowboy8467](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy8467)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-i-was-trying-to-get-of-my-wheelchair/436611/4 "2008-02-07T01:47:25Z")
[QUOTE=Paragod22510] I witnessed a car getting stolen today. It was pretty interesting. I’m outside of a hospital with a patient on my stretcher, about to load the patient into the ambulance when I hear tires squeal. I looked back and I see a woman in her 60’s sitting on the ground yelling, “HEY, COME BACK HERE!” It seemed like a cartoon. She’s shaking her fist angrily in the air, as the discharge paperwork danced their way to the ground like large snow flakes. This lady actually fell backwards to avoid being run over by the “gentleman” who stole her car. She got out of her car to help her mother who was waiting in a wheel chair. Her mother was just discharged from the hospital. The woman had exited her car, left it running and her driver’s door was open. The “gentleman” jumped in and took off. My partner got a good look at the guy, and immediately ran inside to get security. I grabbed my cell and called 911. Takoma Park Police were on the scene within 3 minutes, and after looking at video camera footage, identified the guy as a patient that was just discharged from the emergency room. The police have the “gentleman’s” name, address, etc. Bad guys are stupid… [/QUOTE] Takoma Park eh? Was this at Washington Adventist hospital by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-i-was-trying-to-get-of-my-wheelchair/436611/5 "2008-02-07T01:59:05Z")
Bad guys need to get home too. ---
**Author:** ![Paragod22510](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b5ac83/32.png) [@Paragod22510](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paragod22510)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-i-was-trying-to-get-of-my-wheelchair/436611/6 "2008-02-07T03:03:10Z")
[QUOTE=Cowboy8467] Takoma Park eh? Was this at Washington Adventist hospital by any chance? [/QUOTE] 🙂 Yup yup… ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-i-was-trying-to-get-of-my-wheelchair/436611/7 "2008-02-07T04:39:42Z")
We watched someone stealing a car once. The friend who first spotted him tampering with the locked door phoned the police. The rest of us took turns scampering around from the rear entrance of the building to to the front, pretending to be ‘late arrivals’ and ‘lookouts for the late arrivals’. Every time he saw one of us he’d duck away from the car and wait a couple of metres away till we went back inside. When he finally got into the car and took off, the police were waiting at the corner. Idiot was trying to break into a car from a well lit street on a Friday night in the middle of town. The police told our friend that they logged over a dozen calls about it while we were delaying the guy. ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-i-was-trying-to-get-of-my-wheelchair/436611/8 "2008-02-07T12:55:54Z")
My dad worked at the WAH for years.