Curious shopper walks off with artificial leg

Curious shopper walks off with artificial leg

Tom Alex
The Des Moines Register
Aug. 26, 2005 08:45 AM

DES MOINES, Iowa - An area business may have to foot the bill for an artificial leg that walked out under the weight of a thief.

Police say a man took a $17,000 artificial right leg for a test walk recently and did not return.

Police Sgt. David Murillo said a man went to Spectrum Prosthetics and Orthotics in Des Moines recently to be fitted. A leg was designed and included some special features.

The man returned, put it on and went for a walk. A police report says, "The subject was allowed to take it for a couple hours to ensure that the fit was proper."

Murillo said the man just kept walking.

Spectrum Prosthetics has a cellular telephone number for the man and has called him, said Detective Robert Lewis. But the man is no longer answering the telephone.

The man and the leg disappeared on Aug. 19. A police report shows the leg was reported as stolen on Wednesday. Lewis said the five-day delay in reporting the crime occurred because the business owners thought the man would come back. As the days went by, that looked less and less likely, Lewis said.

Source[/color]