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SOUTH SALT LAKE — Following an anxious wait, a paraplegic man will be reunited with his expensive and specially designed van after the stolen vehicle was found Friday.
Tommy Ohmart said Thursday he would do anything to get his transportation back, even if it means forgiving on the spot the thief who stole it.
"If they wanted to apologize, I would invite them into my condo and give them a drink," Ohmart said at the time.
Police located the Chrysler Town & Country around noon Friday near Bank Avenue and 3000 South.
Ohmart, who requires the use of the specifically equipped van to go anywhere, said Thursday he and his family felt demoralized after it went missing. He said he is completely dependent on the van for his mobility. The vehicle is worth an estimated $60,000 because of its equipment.
"If I want go to the bookstore, if I want to go grocery shopping, if I want to go to a restaurant, if I want to go to rehab, that's my only way of getting around right now," he said.
Ohmart, his mother and his brother traveled to Salt Lake City this week from Arizona for specialized physical therapy that he has received since breaking his spine in a crash a year ago, which rendered him paralyzed. On Thursday, his mom was walking back and forth between the home where they were staying and the running van while packing for the trip home.
That's when Salt Lake police say someone jumped into the van — with Ohmart's medications and clothes inside — and sped away. The vehicle was near 700 North and 800 West when it was taken.
Anyone with information about the van is asked to call Salt Lake police at 801-799-3000.
Those who wish to support Tommy Ohmart's rehabilitation or help fund his other medical or transportation costs can donate to his family's online fundraiser at www.helphopelive.org.
Brother Chris Ohmart said the family's most pressing worry was not having the medication inside the vehicle.
"He needs those meds to keep his blood pressure up to basically survive, and without them he can't," he said.
Tommy Ohmart, a former Arizona State football player who at 27 years old is still getting used to life with restricted mobility, said the theft of his van stung him personally.
"It's almost like taking my legs again," he said Thursday. "I already can't walk, and (whoever stole it is) making it so I can't drive either. It's like, man, that's rude."
But the ordeal reached a happy conclusion when the van was found in good condition. Matthew Moorehouse, Ohmart's cousin, said a cellphone and two bicycles not belonging to the family were found in the vehicle, but it was otherwise as they left it.
"It's huge for us. It's amazing that they found it," Moorehouse said. "(Tommy) is ecstatic about it."
Ohmart's parents, retired from careers in firefighting and nursing, are using their life savings to pay for his extensive rehabilitation and other associated costs. The van is costly because of its ramp and interior straps that make it compatible with his 400-pound wheelchair, and the family uses it to transport him to 15 specialist appointments per year in Utah, he said.
Anyone with information about who may have stolen the van is asked to call Salt Lake police at 801-799-3000. Those who wish to support Tommy Ohmart's rehabilitation or help fund his other medical or transportation costs can donate to his family's online fundraiser at www.helphopelive.org.
