Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Teen athlete's prosthetic leg stolen (police hopping to find suspect)
AP ^ | Wednesday, November 2, 2005 | AP

Posted on 11/04/2005 4:18:20 AM PST by Gordon Pym

11-02) 22:37 PST Temple City, Calif. (AP) -- A thief walked off with 16-year-old Melissa Huff's prosthetic leg, sidelining the high school softball player from the game she loves. Such a leg costs about $5,000 to $7,000, said Huff's father, David, but can't really be used by anyone else because it was custom made. "It's not something you can just sell on the street. Something like that, it's just cruel," Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Tim Phillips said of the theft. The leg was taken sometime Tuesday afternoon by a thief who cut a hole in a window screen, entered Huff's home in this suburb about 12 miles east of Los Angeles and also took video games, about $1,500 in school fundraising scrip and other items. The stolen limb is a special shock-absorbent "sports leg" with a flexible foot that allows Huff to play softball. She has other prosthetic legs, including the one she was wearing the day of the burglary. The Arcadia High School sophomore's right leg had to be amputated two years ago after she was struck by a car.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: leg; robbery; softball
Huff still wants to play softball but now is leaning toward coaching
1 posted on 11/04/2005 4:18:21 AM PST by Gordon Pym
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Gordon Pym

Hopping to find suspect! This is hugh!


2 posted on 11/04/2005 4:22:03 AM PST by TexasRedeye
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gordon Pym

Thats not very hip.


3 posted on 11/04/2005 4:22:08 AM PST by DainBramage
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gordon Pym
Might want to look here.
4 posted on 11/04/2005 4:22:31 AM PST by Fester Chugabrew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gordon Pym

Sounds like the thief got a leg up.


5 posted on 11/04/2005 4:24:40 AM PST by goresalooza (Nurses Rock!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gordon Pym

The leg needed Lojack.


6 posted on 11/04/2005 4:26:04 AM PST by The Red Zone (Florida, the sun-shame state, and Illinois the chicken injun.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gordon Pym

in a fair world, 3 hrs should be given to return the leg. if not done so, when the culprit is apprehended, his or her leg should be amputated. after an appropriate time, he or she would be given a prosthesis. case closed and no more prothesis thefts will be done. isnt it in leviticus where it says, the people will see these things and stop doing the evil among you. more or less.


7 posted on 11/04/2005 4:28:02 AM PST by son of caesar (son of caesar)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gordon Pym

I would think they'd be hopping to POUND suspect.


8 posted on 11/04/2005 4:28:11 AM PST by BibChr ("...behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?" [Jer. 8:9])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gordon Pym

9 posted on 11/04/2005 4:28:44 AM PST by raybbr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gordon Pym

Public defender that represents this thief won't have a legal leg to stand on.


10 posted on 11/04/2005 4:30:40 AM PST by peyton randolph (Warning! It is illegal to fatwah a camel in all 50 states)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gordon Pym

I hate it when that happens!


11 posted on 11/04/2005 4:31:39 AM PST by tuffydoodle (Shut up voices, or I'll poke you with a Q-Tip again.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gordon Pym

At least her name isn't Margaret.


12 posted on 11/04/2005 4:35:23 AM PST by N. Theknow (Kennedys - Can't drive, can't fly, can't ski, can't skipper a boat - But they know what's best.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: son of caesar

in a fair world, 3 hrs should be given to return the leg. if not done so, when the culprit is apprehended, his or her leg should be amputated.

That seems a little extreme. How about we just break one of the thief's legs in seven places and make him crawl to the hospital?

13 posted on 11/04/2005 4:36:14 AM PST by elli1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: TexasRedeye

Try to be series...


14 posted on 11/04/2005 4:37:17 AM PST by gridlock (Nature started the fight for survival, and now she wants to quit because she's losing... Monty Burns)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Gordon Pym

All the puns are good, really funny. On a little more serious side, have the police checked out the school's rival teams? I'm thinking someone wanted this girl on the sidelines. How good is she?


15 posted on 11/04/2005 4:43:18 AM PST by Jemian
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: N. Theknow

Giving Mellissa the nickname "Peggy" would be cruel. Her friends just call her "Eileen".


16 posted on 11/04/2005 4:43:21 AM PST by Luddite Patent Counsel (Theyre digging through all of your files, stealing back your best ideas.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: elli1

sorry, but having known a person who wore a fake leg, one cannot have any idea of the utter nightmare of not finding your leg can be. when i was a kid, one of my dads friends got his leg chopped off riding a tractor, well, he had no one, so he convalesced at our home. i was 7 or 8 at the time. besides being terrified of the man with no leg, my grandmother would always be cleaning the house and move his leg. you wanna talk about terrified screams? you havent heard anything like this, trust me. he would moan and say bring me my leg or bring me a knife so i can cut my throat. im not kidding. so you see, stealing a leg is not a funny matter to the legless. btw, he recovered, got married and had three kids, he did ok.


17 posted on 11/04/2005 4:50:39 AM PST by son of caesar (son of caesar)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Gordon Pym

sick.................. but funny.


18 posted on 11/04/2005 4:52:44 AM PST by beyond the sea (Gloria Borger is Andrea Mitchell on Peyote)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: son of caesar

My wife's cousin lost the lower half of her leg in a farm mishap when she was a kid. She is a beutiful lady, and has a sense of humor about her prosthetic that would probably seem sick to outsiders. She would never "scream" about her mom misplacing her leg, but would robably make the kind of puns that are being made here. Different strokes, I suppose, but I think her attitude is healthier than freaking out and geting PC.


19 posted on 11/04/2005 4:59:33 AM PST by Luddite Patent Counsel (Theyre digging through all of your files, stealing back your best ideas.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: son of caesar; Luddite Patent Counsel

When I was a little kid in the early 60's, a local cabdriver who was WWII vet had a wooden leg. He delighted in showing it off to kids, especially, and who,like me, were totally fascinated with it. The adults were uneasy but understanding. Everyone called him "Pegleg" Thomas.......


20 posted on 11/04/2005 5:20:53 AM PST by Red Badger (Whatever happened to formulas 1 through 408?.........)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson