Garden Grove foster family's car, special-needs son's wheelchair stolen

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (KABC) -- Thieves stole a car from a Garden Grove foster family. One son has cerebral palsy, and his special wheelchair was inside the stolen vehicle.

Mark Sanchez and his fiancee have nine children at home - four are foster kids.

Police said the theft happened around 8 p.m. Monday as the family unloaded groceries in the driveway near Magnolia Street and Trask Avenue.

"Something like that is taken away from you, everything you worked hard for is gone," Sanchez said.

One of Sanchez's sons has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and he requires a 24-hour nurse. Another child has autism.

"Since there's a lot of children, we're very limited to what we have, and so it's very unfortunate, everything affects us," said Sanchez.

What's worse is what was inside the stolen car -- prescription medicine and a special wheelchair for the son with cerebral palsy. The couple is heartbroken because they just bought the car a few months ago after saving for a long time.

"We were able to get this vehicle and were at a point where we were doing well, and this is going to set us back," said Sanchez. "This is going to set us back."

The car is described as a 2015 gray Nissan Altima with red paper plates that say "Nissan of Garden Grove" on them. Sanchez hopes whoever took it understands what it means to them and brings it back.

"That's part of our livelihood. That's the way we get around. That's the way we take the children to the doctors. That's the way we go purchase food, go to work," said Sanchez. "That's how we function and you took away something from us that is going to be hard to replace."

The family has started a GoFundMe page. To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/vk73uk-family-in-need-of-a-little-help.