Thieves strike PF senior living complex
Post Falls resident Mari Best shows a Press reporter the wagon that was stolen from her front porch at the Spencer Place senior living apartment complex. Best did not want her face in print for fear of being a further target for criminals in the area, she said.
ELLI GOLDMAN HILBERT/Press
The modest patio of senior resident Patricia Jackson, the scene of an attempted theft last Saturday night in Post Falls. Criminals tried to steal her power-chair, but luckily were unable to get away with it, leaving with a few smaller personal items instead. Her neighbor Mari Best, was not so fortunate.
POST FALLS — A resident of the new Spencer Place senior living apartment complex awoke Sunday morning to find her Ozark brand, collapsible wagon gone from her front porch.
”We thought we were safe until that night,” said Mari Best.
Best uses the wagon to transport her laundry and bring groceries in from the car. She also takes groceries and necessities around the complex to neighbors.
This wasn’t the only incident in the complex, Best said.
Best’s neighbor, Patricia Jackson, 67, woke the same morning to find that someone had tampered with the motorized wheelchair on her porch, but they were apparently unable to figure out how to operate it. Instead they stole some smaller items off her patio.
“They took the power pack off and rolled it up there, and they tried to take it off,“ Best said. “But they couldn’t figure out how to run it.”
It’s a good thing, as Jackson is unable to walk far enough to collect her mail due to health problems, she said. The wheelchair is a necessity.
“I’ve got a new one coming,” Jackson said. “But you can believe it’s not going to be left out. I’ll keep it inside.”
There's also evidence that someone tried to break into the laundry room, Best said.
A police report was filed, and Officer Blake Minor came to speak to Best about the trouble in the area.
Post Falls Capt. Mark Brantl said there have been reported thefts in the area.
“The big message here is don’t leave things on your porch," Brantl said.
He said the department conducts extra patrols around senior complexes.
Best said she's upset that someone is stealing from senior citizens who don’t have a lot of money.
“To take a wheelchair or walker is taking away someone’s ability to get around safely," she said. "To take my wagon takes my ability to carry things and to help other people.”
Replacing the wagon will cost Best at least $90, she said. And that's money she can’t afford to spend.
“Look at it this way,” she said. “What if it was your mother, father, aunt, uncle or grandparent who had things stolen from them? Wouldn’t you be livid?”
Best implores whomever stole her property to return it to the porch or to the complex office, no questions asked.
