'Heartless': Thieves steal Lawrence family's handicap van wheels

LAWRENCE, Mass. — A family in Lawrence was targeted by thieves once again after having the wheels on their wheelchair accessible van stolen and leaving them stranded.

Heecliff Delarosa couldn't believe his eyes when he went outside on Sunday morning to find all four tires of his family's van had been stolen.

"So I go outside and the first thing I see is two red crates on one side and then I go on the other side and there's two more red crates no tires, no wheels," Delarosa said.

Delarosa says his family just bought the van three months ago, and it wasn't an easy purchase.

"It's extremely expensive," Delarosa said.

The van is handicapped accessible for his 14-year-old son Isaiah who has cerebral palsy. Now, without wheels, he's stuck at home.

"There's no other way we can transport him anywhere," Delarosa said.

Delarosa says its bad enough to steal someone's tires, but it's even worse in this case when you can clearly see the vehicle is wheelchair accessible.

"Like how could you be so heartless? Just take somebody's stuff. You don't know what they're going through," Delarosa said. "God forbid we have an emergency and have to take him out what would we do?"

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time the family was targeted by thieves.

Six years ago, Boston 25 News was back in Lawrence with the Delarosa family when someone stole Isaiah's wheelchair from their front yard.

"Sometimes I feel we can't catch a break for anything, it's like struggle after struggle after struggle," Delarosa said.

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