CANTON, Ohio (AP) – A man lied about having his wheelchair stolen so he could con a sympathetic public into giving him a new one, authorities said.
Virgil Stewart, 52, faces a felony charge of falsifying a police report.
Stewart, who is missing part of his right leg, told police that his attackers sought money, threw him into a fire hydrant and ran off with his wheelchair.
A car dealership and a nursing home each gave him a new wheelchair after the story was reported in the local media.
Authorities, though, say the Dec. 19 assault never happened.
Police said Stewart’s probation officer confronted him about the story after getting a tip that, before reporting the assault, Stewart had asked staff at a post office if he could leave his wheelchair there.
Stewart, who is on probation for cocaine possession, confessed, complaining that his old wheelchair was “kind of broken down and he didn’t like the wheels,” said Joe Dubina, a regional administrator for the Ohio Adult Parole Authority.
The two wheelchairs have been returned to their donors.
Stewart appeared Friday in Canton Municipal Court and a judge freed him on a $2,500 bond and set a preliminary hearing for Jan. 10.
“It’s a shame,” Dubina said. “He took advantage of people’s kindness during the holidays.”
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