Angelique Bedwell of Grand Prairie admits her 1998 Tahoe wasn’t much to look at and it was far from luxurious.
But for she and her 13-year-old son, Jason, who has cerebral palsy, it was their life-saver.
“It wasn’t perfect. It didn’t have A/C. It had damage. But it ran, and it was safe,” Bedwell said.
It was her only way to transport her son, until just the other morning when Bedwell woke up to find her sports utility vehicle stolen from her apartment complex.
“You feel raw. You feel like your whole inside just opened up and you’re scared,” she said. “Especially when you see a handicapped sticker and the only thing showing were diapers in the car. You’re going to steal that?”
Bedwell said police later found the vehicle abandoned in South Dallas. But when she went to claim the SUV, she said the entire thing had been stripped.
Bedwell said the inside was ransacked, the ignition switch heavily damaged, windows and mirrors shattered and attempted to be ripped off and the engine was gone.
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“It’s total confusion. I don’t know where to begin because I can’t afford monthly payments,” she said.
Bedwell said it took her years to be able to move she and her son to a safe apartment and then another year to save $2,000 to pay for the SUV. It’s money she now uses for food and bills.
“It’s like starting all over again. Picking up what pieces you can. Trying to get help where you can and having faith in the good Lord that you can make it.”
Grand Prairie police said they are hoping officers can lift prints off the SUV to try and track down the people who stole it.
CLICK HERE for a GoFundMe account has been set up to help Bedwell.
