Stolen mobility

A stolen car is a major setback for almost anyone, but for Costa Mesa resident Darlyn Lee, it robbed her of more than a year of savings and even her ability to leave her apartment.

Lee, a special education teacher for the Santa Ana school district, has a severe disability and cannot walk far or use her leg muscles. Her Toyota Corolla, which she bought in March to replace a car she owned for 16 years, carries $1,000 worth of modifications to let her work the controls. The person who drove off with it Tuesday from her apartment near the Metro Pointe shopping mall left her stranded on her braces and crutches.

“It was in my parking space,” Lee said. “They just drove it away.”

Costa Mesa police records show reports of a burglary on the block at nearly the same time. Residents said another car in the apartment complex had a couple of CDs stolen from it.

Lee said she saved for a year and a half to get enough money to replace her last car, which finally became unusable when it failed a smog test.

Her 2006 Corolla had the modifications necessary to let her drive freely, including hand controls for the gas and brakes and a knob on the wheel that helped her steer.

A standard rental car couldn’t help Lee, and most rental car companies don’t stock what she needs.

“I’m not able to walk,” she said. “I’m not able to take the bus. I’m really stuck.”

On Thursday, however, she drove to work once more in a special Enterprise rental car her insurance company found after a wide search.

Lee described her car to the police as a 2006 silver Toyota Corolla modified for her use, with California license plate 5TPG787.

Next-door neighbor Maria Kettle is indignant about the theft.

“I just hope they haven’t sold it for parts,” she said. “If whoever it is didn’t realize what they’ve done, they should just leave it on the side of the road somewhere and let [Lee] have her car back.”

Kettle said she, a Girl Scout leader, was passing on the car’s description to troops throughout the area hoping someone might see it while out in the neighborhoods selling cookies next week.

“She’s been pretty down lately,” Kettle said of Lee. “I tell her, ‘You have to keep up hope.’ ”

Lee said that as bad as it was, it could have been worse. Most days she carries stacks of her students’ lessons to grade, and often she leaves them in the trunk.

“Fortunately, I took them out,” she said the day after the theft. “My kids could have lost all that work.”