ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Thieves were caught on camera, stealing from children with disabilities. Now, a local organization is asking the community to help them recover the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stolen equipment that is part of a wheelchair basketball program. “It’s devastating,” said Liliana Prado-Bujanda, Executive Director for the Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation.
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For decades, the Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation in Albuquerque has made it a mission to make sure children with disabilities have access to sports like every other kid. “This equipment is…is essential for this program for them,” Prado-Bujanda said.
But after last week, the wheelchair basketball program they host every other weekend is in jeopardy. Last Thursday, someone stole a trailer of theirs from a gated warehouse near downtown Albuquerque. It held hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of basketball equipment inside.
“We’re estimating the theft, to include the trailer, to be upwards of about $200,000,” Prado-Bujanda said.
The trailer had 17 adaptable wheelchairs, basketball hoops, balls, and cones inside. According to the organization, someone broke the gate lock at the warehouse property with large bolt cutters. Security camera captured them hooking the trailer to a truck, and taking off.
“For many of our kids, that is one of the only programs, outside of our day camp that we host in June, that they’re able to come out and actually get involved with other kids that are just like them who have the same disabilities,” Prado-Bujanda explained.
Now, the children who look forward to the wheelchair basketball program are the ones impacted. “We have communicated with the families letting them know that until further notice, wheelchair basketball is going to have to be canceled,” Prado-Bujanda added.
The group is calling on the public to help find the trailer. According to the organization, it’s white with silver trim, a door on the side, and an emblem that reads “Lark” on the front and back.
“It gets them to enjoy something, an activity, a sport that they wouldn’t otherwise, and that’s why these programs are so critical,” Prado-Bujanda said.
The group said they filed a police report with Albuquerque police. They ask anyone who might have information about this crime to contact police.