The power of public pressure may be behind the return of a stolen wheelchair to a six-year-old Whangārei boy.
The yellow-coloured wheelchair was in the boot of a car which was stolen from the driveway of a Raumanga home in Raumanga Heights Dr early yesterday.The car, a Subaru Legacy Lancaster, was found ditched on nearby Tauroa St later in the morning but minus the wheelchair that was young Drew Mita-Tepania's main mode of transport as he is unable to walk.
However a story on the Northern Advocate's website yesterday and posts on facebook alerting people to the theft helped with the return of the wheelchair in the afternoon.
Mum Joyce Tepania said her sister Fiona had been on her way to the Otaika shops when she was approached by a woman who said her children had found the wheelchair and she had it in her car.
To the relief of the family they had the wheelchair back about 5.30pm.