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Scooter stolen after arrest at drive-thru

Langley man says police had no right to leave his only means of transportation behind
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Phil Alison lost his only means of transportation when his scooter was stolen after he was arrested by police after using it to go through a drive-thru.

A Langley man was arrested while taking his motorized medical scooter through a fast food drive-thru this weekend.

Phil Allison says he isn’t too bothered by the arrest, but it is the fact that after he was put in the police car, the officer left his scooter at the restaurant, and it has since been stolen.

“That scooter is my life,” said Alison, who suffers from nerve damage and can’t walk any distance without swelling up.

“I went through the drive-thru to get a (coffee) when I was arrested and thrown in jail for the night. The officer left my scooter at the McDonald’s (in Willowbrook) where I was, and when the police went to get my scooter back, it was gone,” said Allison.

He calls his motorized scooter his lifeline which he uses to get around town, to the food bank and to appointments.

Allison has had many conversations with police since and with the restaurant but he said nobody is being held accountable for where his scooter is or if anything is going to be done about getting it back.

“His scooter has been entered into our files as a stolen item,” confirmed Langley RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Holly Marks.

She said police were called to the drive-thru for a man causing a disturbance by being intoxicated.

The man was arrested and taken to the detachment to spend the night while he sobered up. In that time, officers did leave the scooter with a staff member of the restaurant who said it could remain there until morning.

But when police returned the next morning to get the scooter, it was gone, said Marks.

Allison admitted he’d had a couple of beers that evening but wasn’t intoxicated.

However, he said he may have appeared that way because he is on several pain killers for his chronic pain.

“Police had no right to leave my scooter,” he said.

Alison’s glasses were in the backpack on the scooter, as well. He is desperate to get the scooter back. Until then, he is mostly confined to his home, he said.

The scooter is a three wheeled, black Fortress 1700 DT with “Stomp” stickers and “gizmos” hanging from the antenna.

If you know the whereabouts of Allison’s scooter, call police at 604-532-3200.



Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
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