Blind crime victim whose laptop was replaced aids student in similar straits

By Mara H. Gottfried

(Editor’s Note: The following article appeared in the St. Paul Pioneer Press on February 23, 2010. Emily and John Zitek are members of the NFB of Minnesota Metro Chapter. It is always great to see such an article that shows blind people very capable and willing to do our part to help.)

When Emily Zitek's braille laptop was stolen as she rode a Metro Transit bus a couple of years ago and a former U.S. senator bought her a new one, she wanted to find a way to pay the kindness forward.

Zitek and her husband said Tuesday they found a way. They offered to buy a laptop for a visually impaired college student who was robbed of his computer Sunday as he waited for a bus in downtown St. Paul.

"When you're violated like this, your first thoughts for the first few days is, 'Gosh, it's a bad world out there and who in the world would ever help me?’" said Zitek, 32. "When they came forward for me, it reminded me that there are good people, also. We just want to pass it on. We just want to help out."

Phil Sporer, the 20-year-old whose laptop was stolen Sunday, said the Ziteks' offer "brightened my spirits."

"I'm speechless," he said. "I'm just extremely happy."

The Dell laptop, issued by Minnesota State Services for the Blind, had special software that allowed Sporer to enlarge text so he could read it. The computer also could read text to him. Sporer can't see objects that are far away or very small, and he is legally blind without his glasses, his mother said. Sporer said he also has Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder.

Minnesota State Services for the Blind director Richard Strong said Tuesday that it's rare for the agency to hear that its property has been stolen. He said replacement decisions would be handled on a case-by-case basis. He said he couldn't discuss specific cases, including Sporer's.

Sporer, of St. Paul, said he called his Minnesota State Services for the Blind caseworker Monday and heard back from him Tuesday. The worker told him "there's no insurance (on the computer) and they can't get me a new one," according to Sporer.

Meanwhile, Emily Zitek's husband, John Zitek, read a Pioneer Press article Tuesday about Sporer and the robbery and called the newspaper, saying he and his wife wanted to buy a new laptop for Sporer. John Zitek said he plans to get the computer to Sporer soon.

When Zitek's BrailleNote computer was stolen as she rode a bus from downtown St. Paul to her Minneapolis home in November 2008, she was starting a new business and said she couldn't afford the $6,500 to replace it.

Former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton offered to buy Zitek a new computer, and she reluctantly accepted. The owners of Simek's meats and frozen foods bought her new computer software.

"It felt like my troubles had come to an end," she said. "Getting the computer, I felt like I had my business partner back. I didn't know how to thank them at the time."

The only thing that Dayton and the Simek's owners would accept was Zitek's offer to have them to her home for dinner. She said she cooked them "food from the place I'm from, Louisiana."

In January 2009, police arrested a suspect in the theft of Zitek's computer, and he was convicted of felony theft. John Harold Richardson, now 41, told police he threw the computer away. He was sentenced to the county workhouse and put on probation for three years, according to court records.

Today, Zitek said her work is going well. She and her husband, who is legally blind, own convenience stores and vending machines in state office buildings.

"When this happened to me, I had received comments from other blind people who said that the people who helped me did so because they felt sorry for me because I'm blind," she said. "We're blind and we're successful individuals who have our own businesses. We're as capable of helping people as anybody else."

Police said Tuesday they had no new leads in Sporer's case. The Inver Hills Community College student was sitting at a bus stop on Fifth Street, between Cedar and Wabasha streets, about 4:50 p.m. Sunday when a man ran up, grabbed the laptop out of Sporer's hands and fled.

Sporer began to chase him, but he said another man - who police believe was working with the first man - "whacked me in the side of the head.” Sporer fell to the ground, but he said he got up and tried to give chase again. The two men got away.

Witnesses told police the robbers were males, 16 to 18 years old, with thin builds. Sporer said he thought both were about 5 feet 10 inches tall.

One was white and wearing a white stocking cap, a white hooded sweatshirt and jeans. The other male was black and wearing a blue baseball cap, a navy blue hooded sweatshirt and jeans. Anyone with information is asked to call police.