Transit Police say they’ve arrested a suspect who allegedly stole an iPhone from a 19-year-old man in a wheelchair on a Surrey bus in September.
Police have arrested a 32-year-old woman of no fixed address, who is well known to police.
The woman was located when someone saw her loitering outside a Surrey convenience store, and notified police.
The suspect has not been named, and has been released from police custody on a promise to appear.
She is due in Surrey Provincial Court at 9 a.m. on Oct. 22.
Video released by @TransitPolice as they search for a woman who allegedly stole a cell phone from a 19yo man in a wheelchair on a #SurreyBC bus. He was headed to KPU for class as the time.
Police helped pay off outstanding debt on the phone, in order for him to get a new one. pic.twitter.com/N7bKQD8Gpy
— Amy Marie Reid (@amyreid87) September 25, 2019
The incident happened on Sept. 12 when the victim was on a 96 B-Line bus that travels between Guildford mall and Newton Exchange, according to a Transit Police press release.
Police say a woman approached the man as the bus stopped near 80th Avenue and King George Boulevard and “quickly grabbed his mobile phone.”
After a brief struggle, police say the man – who is paralyzed in one hand – could no longer hold on and the suspect was able to “rip the phone from his grip” and leave the bus.
While police say he tried to yell for help, the bus driver did not hear him.
READ MORE: Police search for woman after iPhone stolen from man in wheelchair on Surrey bus
At the time of the incident, the man was on his way to Kwantlen Polytechnic University where he was “working toward improving his independence and job skills,” police stated in a release.
“His mobile phone meant a great deal to him as the large screen of the iPhone 6S helped make texting and reading easier for him. Given the circumstances, the officers investigating this file helped to pay off the outstanding debt on the phone, in order for him to acquire a new phone,” the release notes.
Transit Police said at the time that it was “extremely troubling and hard to understand what would lead someone to commit an act like this.”
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