Brooklyn Center PD: Wheelchair-accessible van stolen; victim of theft speaks out

The Brooklyn Center Police Department is investigating after they say a wheelchair-accessible van was stolen.

John Anderson has been in a wheelchair his whole life and says it was his vehicle.

“You kind of take it for granted until it’s taken away from you,” said Anderson, who had his handicap-accessible van stolen from him.

Thursday night around 8:30 p.m., Brooklyn Center Police say they responded to the Radisson Hotel on Freeway Boulevard where the van was reported stolen from the parking lot.

“I turn around and the van’s backing out of the parking spot and before we know it it’s gone,” Anderson said.

Anderson says he wasn’t staying at the hotel, he was visiting a former assistant that helped him with his personal care.

“I was there an hour or two, visited for a while came out to go to my van and the van was gone,” Anderson said.

Now Anderson wonders how he’s going to get anywhere.

“That van is my life, I can’t go to work, I can’t do anything without that van, it’s my life,” Anderson said.

The van is a 2018 white Chrysler Pacifica with Minnesota license plate GNT-423. But Anderson’s was outfitted to cater to his specific needs, something that costs upwards of $60,000.

“It’s got a lowered floor, automatic ramp, automatic tie-downs,” Anderson said.

The Radisson Hotel says they’re working closely with Brooklyn Center Police to track down whoever did this. 

“Just bring my van back, I don’t want to see you, I don’t want to know you, I won’t even get mad at you just bring my van back,” Anderson said. “It’s not just a van, it’s like if I said to you, ‘you can’t drive and you can’t walk.'”

If you know anything about the stolen van give Brooklyn Center Police a call at 763-569-3300.