Story Archive

Grand Theft Wheelchair

Brantly Poling, a 3-year-old boy with spina bifida, uses a wheelchair that he affectionately calls “Buckle” to get around. “It’s his way of doing everyday toddler things,” says Brantly’s mother, Brooke Poling. “He can have no independence without his wheelchair.” But Buckle went missing from their Vienna, W.V., home’s front porch. An investigation was started, but there wasn’t much hope of finding the chair. A family friend reached out to Ken Bussart of Glouster, Ohio, who repairs and customizes wheelchairs for people who can’t afford them. When Bussart delivered a new chair to Brantly, the boy was thrilled. “He was doing wheelies,” Bussart said. But shortly after, the original chair was returned. According to Vienna police, Delores Jackson, 69, had swiped the chair — and tried to sell it on eBay. (MS/Athens Messenger) ...It would’ve been right under the “Candy Stolen from Babies” listings.