By Chris Fuchs
Police arrested a College Point man who had claimed his $6,000 motorized wheelchair was stolen as he was shoved to the ground and accused him Friday of enlisting two friends to stage the robbery so that he could get a new wheelchair.
James Daly, 52, was taken into custody at his house on 126th Street just one day after receiving a new wheelchair purchased from a supplier in Flushing from an ambulette company that transports mentally and physically disabled patients, police said.
Daly’s mother, Mary, who lives near her son, said in a phone interview Monday that she was shocked to learn of the charges.
Daly was arraigned Saturday in Queens Criminal Court before Judge Sheldon Greenberg on charges of filing a false police report, a misdemeanor, said Mary de Bourbon, a spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney. He pleaded not guilty, and the judge set bail at $1,000. If convicted, he faces 90 days in prison or a fine of up to $500 or both, de Bourbon said.
Detectives arrested Daly after viewing a videotape from a surveillance camera mounted on a building that was 50 feet away from where Daly said the robbery occurred on 128th Street between 20th Avenue and 22nd Avenue, according to a complaint filed by Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. The videotape showed a man emerging from a van, walking to the passenger side, lifting Daly from the vehicle and placing him on the ground, the complaint said. The van then drove away.
Initially, Daly, who had been paralyzed after an car accident in 1989, had told police that on June 7 he was escorting his home attendant to a bus stop on 127th Street. On his way back, he claimed someone pushed him out of his wheelchair from behind and stole the $6,000 chair. He said he was left lying on the sidewalk for about an hour until two men discovered him and brought him to his mother’s house.
The videotape revealed, however, that at no time did any passers-by stop at the intersection to help him, the complaint said.
Earlier that afternoon, prosecutors contend, Daly was picked up in a van by two acquaintances whom he had asked to drive to the home of a man in the Bronx. Once they arrived, one of the men removed the wheelchair from the van while Daly waited inside, the complaint said. The driver told police that Daly, while in the van, said he needed a new wheelchair.
Later that night round 8:50 p.m., the two acquaintances drove Daly back to College Point, stopping at an intersection near his house, prosecutors said. At Daly’s request, the complaint said, the driver of the van lifted Daly out of the vehicle and left him on the ground at 128th Street.
The two acquaintances have not been charged.
Jeffrey Bochner, the president of Gem, the supplier from which the wheelchair was purchased, said he was “amazed” to learn about the charges brought against Daly. For a number of years, Gem had serviced Daly’s wheelchair, but in light of the allegations brought against him, Bochner said he likely would be more cautious if his firm continued its relationship with Daly.
“Based upon his actions, that would just be the normal human reaction in dealing with someone who allegedly perpetrated a fraud,” he said. “It’s not something that I would want to really be involved in.”
Daly’s mother said she had called New York Ambulette Service, the agency that purchased the wheelchair for Daly, several times to see whether she could return the device, but no one called her back. She said her son could not keep something that was not legally his.
Tony Avella, a civic activist who was also involved in the case, said “as outraged as I was at the report of the initial alleged crime, I’m equally shocked and saddened by these developments. It’s very unfortunate that he tried to perpetrate a hoax on everyone. And I hope that people don’t take the wrong message from this and fail to reach out and help someone when they do need help.”
Wayne Soifer, a spokesman for New York Ambulette Service, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Reach reporter Chris Fuchs by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 156.
