BROCKTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A Brockton mom was reunited with her stolen minivan Tuesday after police tracked it down Monday night.
A matter of days after the van was taken from a spot outside her home Saturday morning, Sandra Tavares is now thanking those involved in bringing the van back.
“I don’t even know how to describe how I feel,” she said.
Tavares said the van was taken while she quickly ran back inside her home to grab her wallet. She was devastated because the wheelchair-accessible van serves as a link to the outside world for her 8-year-old son Neyden.
“The van is everything for us because Neyden is everything for us,” Tavares said.
Tavares spent years saving up for the van after Neyden was hit by a car and left severely disabled in 2016.
Speaking this week, Tavares said Neyden smiled when she told him they got the van back.
Tavares said she reported the stolen van to police. Brockton police then said a patrol officer noticed the van parked behind an apartment building less than two miles from the address where Tavares lives.
Police brought the van to a nearby tow yard where detectives dusted it for fingerprints and documented damage. Police interviewed neighbors but said they have not identified people seen on surveillance video getting into the van on Saturday.
The van got a quick hose-down before Tavares took it home Tuesday.
While at a loss for words earlier, Tavares said she would like to have a word with those who stole her van.
“I just don’t want them to do it to other people,” she said. “I want them to stop.”
After all her years saving up for the van, Tavares will now need to spend some more money. She had to get the van’s keys reprogrammed and will have to change the locks to her house, since her house keys were on the keychain stolen with the van.
The van also suffered damage to its bumper.
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