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Letter to the editor

Family's sole vehicle stolen, trashed

A teenager who uses a wheelchair relied on the 1993 Dodge van.

By ABHI RAGHUNATHAN, Times Staff Writer
Published August 29, 2007

A 1993 van gave Devon Hughes, who has cerebral palsy, the means to get around. He now relies on a transportation service, which often runs late, while other family members take public buses.
	[Atoyia Deans | Times]

The old white van wasn't much to look at. It still bore scars from old accidents, and it was 13 years old when the Hughes family bought it.

But Devon Hughes, 17, depended on it to go everywhere. He has had cerebral palsy since birth and is essentially paralyzed from the neck down. He moves around in a motorized wheelchair and needs support even to keep his head up.

In the early morning of Aug. 11, someone stole the 1993 Dodge van in the 100 block of Central Avenue, according to a police report. Debi Hughes' other son, Jay Ogletree, 29, left the van after someone told him he had forgotten his wallet and keys at the bar where he works. When he came back, the van was gone.

Although the van was recovered Monday in St. Pete Beach, the Hughes family said it was badly damaged by thieves.

The doors were torn and the windows were smashed. The engine was severely damaged, and someone had urinated and defecated inside the van.

"I just don't know what we're going to do," said Debi Hughes, 52."They stripped and stole everything."

The family lives in Seminole and had no other cars except for the white van. After purchasing it, they took out some seats in the back so they could ferry Devon around.

Without the van, the family has had to rely on a transportation service to take Devon anywhere. But Debi Hughes said the service requires long waits and can be cumbersome.

The family was hoping to get the van back, Debi Hughes said. She just never expected the criminals to destroy it.

"We're going to have to scrap it," she said.

The family doesn't have much money. Debi Hughes works part time as a cashier at the Super Market in Madeira Beach. Her husband is a roofer who has had trouble finding steady work recently. Devon is a student at Countryside High.

"Business is rough," she said. "We're lucky to be able to survive right now."

Police are still searching for the culprits.

The family is making do by using the often-late van service and relying on buses to get to their jobs. Debi Hughes said it takes her three buses just to get to work.

"I'm overwhelmed," she said. "I just can't believe it."

Abhi Raghunathan can be reached at araghunathan@sptimes.com or 727 893-8472.

[Last modified August 28, 2007, 22:29:45]