Paralyzed gymnast Sang Lan's love for New York was put to the test yesterday when a heartless highwayman snatched her guardian's purse from their parked car on the FDR Drive as Sang sat helpless in the back seat, police said.
Detectives said Sang and Gina Liu, who were on their way back from Chinese New Year festivities in Chinatown, became targets when Liu stopped their Mercedes minivan on a shoulder at E. 63rd St. at 1:30 p.m. to check a flat tire.
Investigators said a man approached Liu and offered his help. After changing the tire, he reached into the vehicle and grabbed Liu's purse, frightening 17-year-old Sang, cops said.
Police said the thief got away with $400, credit cards and Liu's driver's license.
Sang, who broke her back in the Goodwill Games last summer, has won the hearts of New Yorkers with her courage and determination to walk again.
She recently got doctors' okay to return to China in June but said, "I will miss New York."
The Chinese gymnast paralyzed during the Goodwill Games watched from the back seat of a car in New York while a man who offered to help fix a flat tire stole her guardian's pocketbook.
Sang Lan's guardian, Gina Liu, pulled her car to the edge of a Manhattan service road Tuesday afternoon. Police said a man walked by and offered to assist. He and Liu changed the tire while Lan, 17, remained in the car.
The man then stood up, stretched, dusted off his hands and snatched the 45-year-old woman's bag, which had $400 in it, from the front seat, then ran away, police said. Police said they did not have any suspects. Lan, a member of the Chinese national team, was injured during …
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-574328.html
Paralyzed Chinese gymnast in car as her aide is robbed
NEW YORK - A supposed "Good Samaritan" who changed a flat tire for paralyzed gymnast Sang Lan and her guardian proceeded to rob the aide of $400 and credit cards, police said.
Gina Liu had pulled over yesterday to change the tire when a man walking by stopped to help them.
The man and Liu, 45, changed the tire while the gymnast, 17, sat in the back seat. The man then stood up, dusted off his hands and snatched Liu's pocketbook.
[In a regrettable postscript to Diana Olick's story, a "good Samaritan" victimized Sang Lan and her guardian on Tuesday. Sang Lan and the guardian were driving in Manhattan, when their minivan got a flat tire. According to police, a man walking by stopped to help them change the tire.
After he changed the tire, he stole the guardian's pocketbook from the front seat of the van and ran away. The thief got away with $400 in cash, a driver's license, and credit cards. Sang Lan and her guardian were returning from Chinese Lunar New Year festivities.]
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/02/17/national/main33376.shtml