Teresa Solta and her elderly father, Laurence Michalski, are understandably heartbroken after a male suspect entered a downtown facility for out-of-town patients living with cancer and their loved ones and stole a laptop containing sentimental images of a deceased family member.
The robbery happened on Saturday, May 8 when a man entered the Princess Margaret Hospital Lodge at 545 Jarvis St. at 4:25 p.m. and went floor-to-floor. The suspect reportedly entered the Michalski’s third-floor room and removed a black HP laptop placing it inside a black carry-all bag belonging to the victim before leaving the hospital.
Michalski is staying at the Jarvis Street facility while he undergoes cancer treatment. He was watching a hockey game in the facility’s main floor lobby with his daughter at the time of the theft.
“I just couldn’t believe that it could happen here. I’m heartbroken,” Michalski said Tuesday afternoon.
The elderly man’s granddaughter, Marisa Noel Solta, died March 23 at the age of 17 after a nine-year battle with a rare form of spinal cancer.
“I was stunned, absolutely stunned,” said Solta, adding losing the laptop is like losing her daughter for a second time.
“My laptop is so important to me because it contains the only copy of the pictures that I have for the last three years of my daughter.”
She further appealed to the person who stole her black HP laptop to return it, even if they’ve deleted the information.
“Please bring it back. If you’ve wiped it there’s a chance I might be able to recover it if I get it to the right people,” Solta pleaded.
“If you have it and you haven’t erased it yet and you’re determined to keep it give me the pictures, give me the data.”
Police are looking or a white male, about 23 years old, and 5’10” with short, dark-brown gelled hair. The suspect was last seen wearing a red and yellow jacket, blue jeans and white running shoes.