Stolen wheelchair returned to Lane County boy after Armitage Park theft

Deputies returned Evan Lindland’s stolen specialized wheelchair to his family on July 22 after it was taken from Armitage Park in Lane County. For the 7-year-old, the recovery ended a disruptive loss of a device his family depends on every day.

Evan is blind, autistic and has additional physical disabilities. His family said the chair went missing while they were swimming in the McKenzie River, only 15 to 20 yards away, and that without it he could not attend summer school or enjoy the outdoor adventures he loves.

A community member later found the mobility chair, and the Lane County Sheriff’s Office said deputies returned it to the family. A later post about the case said the wheelchair had been recovered and returned, and the chair was recovered undamaged.

The theft put a basic piece of mobility and access at the center of a family’s daily routine. For children who rely on specialized equipment, a wheelchair is not just property but the tool that makes school, travel and recreation possible, and the Armitage Park case showed how quickly that access can be interrupted when the equipment disappears.

For Lane County families who depend on adaptive mobility devices, the return is a reminder of how vulnerable specialized equipment can be when it is left within reach, even briefly. In this case, recovery depended on a combination of public attention, a community member who found the chair and deputies who brought it back to the Lindland family.