Family Carjacked On Christmas, Daughter's Custom Wheelchair Taken
CHICAGO (CBS) – A Christmas day robbery is bad enough. But held up at gunpoint? And your child's wheelchair stolen?
CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez has an original story of one family having a tough time this holiday.
"We had a few bags with us," said father, Peter Ramos. "We came down this way."
Ramos said it was just after 9 p.m. Christmas day.
"My vehicle was parked right here," Ramos said.
He was loading his SUV outside his mother's garage in Hegewisch, when he spotted four men coming down the alley.
"I looked back I saw my wife come out, that's when they pulled the gun out and stuck it to my neck," Ramos said.
"At first truthfully, I thought it was a joke or something for some reason," said wife and mother, Teresa Ramos. "The gun just didn't look real to me. Don't know if I was just in shock."
Ramos handed over his keys. But as the young men piled into the SUV and took off, the couple remembered the important cargo in the back.
"My wife and I were yelling at them, can we at least have my daughter's wheelchair back," Ramos said.
That is what is missed the most. Their 9-year-old daughter, Alexis has Cerebral Palsy and needs her wheelchair to get around.
"It's the day after Christmas, nothing is open," Teresa Ramos said. "I can only borrow a wheelchair."
And without a car, the family is unable to head home to Whiting, Indiana. They are grateful that neither Alexis, nor her 6-month-old brother was in the car.
But, "it's disappointing, actually, to see young kids 19 or 25 just rampaging through this neighborhood," Ramos said. "Worst feeling, but I know we'll get through it."
Ramos did find a wheelchair, but it is only a temporary fix. Alexis's chair was custom made to address her needs. And the family will need to order a new one.
Their missing car is a 2005 dark blue Hyundai Sante Fe.