DETROIT (WJBK) -
Walter Richardson said a young man accompanied him to the VA Medical Center in Detroit and then took off with his car. His prosthetic leg was in the trunk.
"He's always tried to make me think he was a good guy. Unc, unc, I don't do stuff like that," said Richardson.
"Unc" being short for uncle. Richardson said that's what a young man who hung around his Detroit neighborhood always called him. The teen helped him out in the past. That's why it didn't phase Richardson when he offered to help drive him to his Friday appointment at Detroit's VA Medical Center.
"I was trying to get out of the car because I did the driving, and then he said, 'Unc.' He said, 'You're doing too much.' He said, 'Let me have that stuff,' so I gave him the stuff."
It's tough for Richardson. He wears a prosthetic leg after he lost his from diabetes complications years ago. That day, Richardson said he handed the young man his bag with his car keys. They placed his prosthetic leg in the trunk and the teen wheeled him up to the third floor.
"He (said), 'I've got to go to the bathroom.' And I thought about it even before I went in, before they called me, I said, 'It's taking him a mighty long time to go to the bathroom.'"
Richardson finally finished with his doctors.
"Still (hadn't come) back, and I said, 'This (isn't) right,' he explained. "Then all of a sudden I thought about it. I said, 'He's got my damn keys.'"
"I looked over to where the car... was parked, and I said, 'That (expletive) has got my car.'"
His helper allegedly took off with his 1999 black Ford Taurus with his prosthetic leg in the trunk and hasn't been seen or heard from since. Richardson filed a stolen car report with Detroit Police.
In the meantime, Richardson, who suffers from several health problems, is struggling to get around his own home, let alone get to his doctor's appointments. He has no idea how he will be able to afford another prosthetic leg.
"This guy played me. He played me," said Richardson. "I need that leg so bad."
Richardson said his daughter, who lives on the other side of the city, is helping out.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson with Detroit Police said they are confident they'll be able to apprehend a suspect soon.
Walter Richardson (Credit: MyFox Detroit)
