Someone stole a van that is used to transport seniors to and from life-saving treatments and doctor’s appointments on Thursday outside a hospital on the south side of Indianapolis, and your help is needed to find it.
About 11:30 a.m. Thursday, while a driver delivered a patient to the Franciscan Health Cancer Center at St. Francis Hospital near Emerson Avenue and Stop 11 Road, just north of the Johnson County line, someone drove off with the van, according to an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department report.
The 2017 Dodge Caravan is equipped with two handicap ramps, and there are also handicap markings on the front and rear of the van. The keys were left inside, the report said.
It is one of just two vans Johnson County Senior Services has that can accommodate large, bariatric wheelchairs, said Leo Rafail, a senior services board member and social worker.
“Praise God no one else was on board, and the driver and patient were safe,” said Kim Smith, senior services executive director.
Special equipment and the driver’s purse were still inside the van, and one of the driver’s credit cards was used twice before she could notify her bank of the theft. Detectives were tracking where exactly those purchases were made, Smith said Friday afternoon. It was possibly used in Ohio, according to the report. The driver’s personal and company cell phones were also stolen.
A tablet with a special navigational system was also on board the van, which would have allowed senior services dispatchers to track the van had the thief not discarded it somewhere near the Rosegate nursing home, about a mile north of the hospital, Smith said.
Having one vehicle out of commission cuts the organization’s services in half, and dispatchers were working overtime on Friday to rearrange the schedule and make sure everyone makes their scheduled appointments, Rafail said.
“We don’t have a huge fleet to begin with,” he said. “It’s unbelievable.”
From the outside, the vehicle looks like a typical white Dodge Caravan. But on the inside, it is obvious that it is for special use, Rafail said. The van also has a blue municipal plate, because 80 percent of the funding for it comes from INDOT, he said.
It is valued at about $38,000.
Rafail has a message for the thief: “Wouldn’t you want it back if it were your parent or grandparent?” he said. “We don’t care why you stole it. We just need it back, undamaged.”
Last year, senior services helped 13,473 seniors make their treatments and doctor’s appointments, Smith said. It is a free service the local non-profit organization has provided to seniors for 40 years.
“People die if we don’t do what we do,” Smith said. “We are truly their only viable option.”
