Salem security guard charged with stealing power wheelchair
SALEM MA. July 17 2019— A Salem man with a degree in criminal justice and, at least until his arrest, a job as a security guard, has been charged with stealing a power wheelchair and taking it on a joyride around downtown Salem Sunday evening.
David Knott, 33, who lists his address as the Lifebridge homeless shelter on Margin Street, was ordered held on $100 bail following his arraignment on a felony charge of larceny of property worth more than $1,200.
The chair, valued at $3,000, belongs to a local man in his 50s who has multiple sclerosis. He told police that he had used a cable lock to secure the chair to a fence in the alley between the Salem Waterfront Hotel and Brodie’s Seaport.
When he returned to the alley, around 7:30 p.m. Sunday, the chair was gone.
Police began searching for the chair. A witness flagged down officers to say he had seen it rolling down a ramp near Mercy Tavern and onto Derby Street.
Another witness then called to say he saw someone riding the chair on Blaney Street.
That’s where police found and arrested Knott.
“I didn’t steal it,” Knott told officers, according to a police report. “I was borrowing it and bringing it back.”
But then he told officers it was “abandoned,” saying he thought it was trash, a prosecutor said.
The officers returned to the hotel, where a manager was able to pull up video images from a surveillance camera showing Knott walking into the alley, getting into the chair, and then driving away in it, which broke the lock.
The chair was returned to the owner, missing the lock.
While checking him for weapons, police say Knott told them he had a pellet gun.
Prosecutor Dan Oste asked Judge Jennifer Queally to set bail at $500, citing both the nature of the theft as well as the strength of the state’s case against Knott given the surveillance video.
David Broderick, who represented Knott on Monday, asked the judge to release his client, saying Knott “has no financial ability to post any amount of bail.”
Broderick then went on to describe Knott’s ties to the community, including a new job working as security at the Alternative Therapies Group marijuana dispensary, and family in the area.
ATG executive director Christopher Edwards said Knott actually worked for an outside security firm that had been hired by ATG, not directly for the dispensary.
“We find the charges against Mr. Knott appalling, but he is of course entitled to due process,” Edwards said in a statement. “The third-party vendor has been notified that Mr. Knott is no longer welcome at our facility pending the outcome of the proceedings.”
Broderick said Knott has an associate’s degree in criminal justice from North Shore Community College, and grew up in Middleton, graduating from Masconomet Regional High School.
He also said Knott has no record of convictions and that he has not defaulted in any prior court cases.
“Can he post any bail at all, $100?” asked Queally.
“I’m told he has no ability to post any cash bail,” said Broderick.
Queally set bail at $100, pointing to the nature of the case. She also told Knott to have no contact with the owner of the wheelchair.
A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Aug. 13.
Salem News
