Thursday, October 1, 2026
In a heartless move that only a Grinch would understand, a 19-year-old Lynbrook woman’s wheelchair was stolen from in front of her home on Dec. 15.
“I don’t know what the intent is or [what] the value of what they took is to them, but for us, it’s something that we need every day,” said Putnam Avenue resident Mike Brennan, whose daughter Pauline’s customized wheelchair was taken from their front patio.
The loss has turned the Brennans’ holiday season into a nightmare, with Pauline now forced to make the best of a bad situation, struggling with a temporary chair used to transport hospital patients, her father said.
“I’m shocked that someone would do such a thing,” she said. “This has never happened to me before, and it makes me angry that someone would do something like this — especially so close to Christmas.”
The chair was taken between 2 and 7 p.m. last Thursday, while the Brennans were at home and Mike was taking a nap, he said. When he woke up, he couldn’t find the chair anywhere. “I figured I made a mistake, and talked to my wife,” he said. “Then we searched all over. It was like the chair had vanished.”
Brennan filed a report with the Lynbrook Police Department. Getting a new chair is difficult, he explained, because it requires also filing a report with his insurance company. It takes the company 48 hours to record the theft in its system, after which a vendor must measure Pauline to create and customize a new chair, he said.
After he spoke with a representative of the insurance company and was told the process would take a week, Brennan said, “… [H] called back and said that it would take a week to even have someone at the house. It’s frustrating.”
He estimated that the replacement process could take as long as a month. So, finding the original chair would be a great relief, especially for Pauline, who is a speech pathologist major at Molloy College in Rockville Centre.
She was managing the setback well, with help from her fellow students, her father said. “She keeps a sense of humor,” Brennan said, adding that his daughter is “a great kid” who helps children with autism and advocates for those with disabilities. His wish, he added, is that by the time school resumes next month after the semester break — if not sooner — she will have her chair back. “I call it a crime,” Mike said. “It’s like getting your car taken.”
The family is offering a monetary reward for the recovery of the chair, which has a black seat and blue frame. It’s a custom fit for Pauline, who has been physically disabled since birth. Anyone with information can call the Lynbrook Police Department at (516) 599-3300.
