LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / December 5, 1999

LAPLACE – Unusual items are reported stolen from time to time, but one car thief may have gotten more than he bargained for – a prosthetic arm.

Gary Hood, 42, of River Oaks Apartments on Ormond Boulevard, arrived home from work on Nov. 27. Usually, he takes off his prosthetic right armand brings it inside. This evening, though, he left the arm on the passengerside floor board of his rented white 1999 Dodge Neon.

On Sunday morning, he took the household trash to the dumpster and realized the car was gone – together with his arm.

“These things aren’t cheap!” his wife, Elaine, commented. “We’re just anaverage working family, and we don’t have medical insurance.”Hood added, “I guess it was the wrong night to leave it in the car, but what can you say?” Hood lost his right arm in an industrial accident 15 years ago.

“I never leave it in the car,” he added of his replacement, “but it was a long day and I left it in.”The couple is distressed, not only for the loss of his arm, which he could definitely use on the job at Coastal Ventures contractors. The arm itselfis molded to his body and cannot be used by anyone else. It also has areplacement value of $10,000.

They hope someone either finds the arm tossed by the roadside or still in the vehicle. The couple speculated a child may have found it by theroadside, or that the thief may have left it in the vehicle somewhere.

“The car’s fully-insured, but that arm’s not,” Hood added. “Hopefully, whenthey find the car, they’ll find the arm. It’s no good to anyone else.”He said anyone who locates the missing prosthetic arm should contact the St. John Sheriff’s Office.

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