GILROY (KRON)–A family is thanking their lucky stars Thursday night after narrowly escaping brazen criminals in the South Bay.
KRON4’s Hermela Aregawi spoke to the family in Gilroy.
It was the usual October Tuesday at the Romero’s until one of the family cars disappeared.
“I was getting ready to go to work,” said Joel Romero. “I drove off and probably less than 3 minutes later, I got a call from my wife asking me if I had her vehicle and i said no, that’s when we learned our vehicle was stolen.”
Romero says he was in disbelief and his wife and daughter were devastated.
“I was in shock but I was also very grateful that none of the kids were in the car since we were getting ready to leave,” said the girl’s mother Anahi.
Their Chevy Suburban was packed with little Jocelyn’s medical equipment, including her wheelchair.
The 5-year-old has a rare condition that affects her bones.
The family says some things were recovered from the thieves but much of it is useless, including the wheelchair.
“It was found in a homeless encampment so it’s completely totaled,” Anahi said. “The car is completely totaled. Her glasses, her hearing aids are missing. We had her communication tablet which they had ruined and it’s specifically designed for her.”
The family says they’re still recovering what they lost, but are thankful for the support from their community.
People at Jocelyn’s school made her this temporary wheelchair and they say Gilroy police and the California Highway Patrol contributed $2,500 towards their loss.
But they’re disappointed even thieves would stoop so low.
“It’s unbelievable that they had no remorse seeing a wheelchair that it’s not an ordinary wheel chair ya know,” Anahi said. “It’s specifically designed to fit somebody’s needs, which is her needs. and obviously it was for kids. It had stickers on it and everything.”
The family says police have made three arrests in relation to this incident.