‘Heartbroken’: Fundraiser launched after wedding ring stolen off finger in Oak Park yard

A wheelchair-bound elderly Oak Park resident was robbed in her front yard Sunday, prompting a friend to launch a GoFundMe campaign to help replace sentimental jewelry taken in the theft.

Dijon Evans, 61, said she was watering plants and enjoying her garden when a man, a woman, and a child approached asking for directions to the highway.

Evans said she offered help, only to be deceived.

“She reached out to shake my hand and I extended my hand back,” Evans said. “She grabbed my hand, and she took my wedding and engagement ring off my finger and ran to the car. ... She reached for a necklace that I had on too, and I had put my hand up, I don’t know, out of reflex to my chest, and I grabbed hold of the necklace, which is probably the only reason I still have it.”

Sacramento police responded around 5:30 p.m. Monday to the 3200 block of Sixth Avenue after the victim reported being robbed a day earlier at about 1 p.m., a department spokesperson said.

Officers spoke with the victim, reviewed the area for potential surveillance footage and witnesses, and began an investigation.

Evans has used a wheelchair since age 16 due to complications from a tightly applied leg cast that ultimately led to a gangrene infection and the amputation of her left leg, she said.

She went back into her house to tell her husband, James, what happened.

“They were gone. There was no way to find them. I’m still heartbroken,” Evans said.

She described the suspect as a female wearing a burqa, scarf, a “rust color” skirt, white long sleeve shirt and gold-rimmed glasses. The vehicle was an older silver Kia hatchback, oxidized and dull in appearance.

Evans said replacing the stolen wedding set would cost about $5,200, but that its true worth was far more personal.

“Even if it can be replaced, it’s not going to be the same,” Evans said. “This is something (James) gave me, and we’ve been together 17 years. The value of it to me, it is all sentimental.”

Lisa Evans, a longtime friend who met Dijon in college, launched a GoFundMe page to help.

“I am raising funds to replace a cherished bridal ring set that was stolen from my best friend, Dijon Evans, today by a couple that preyed on her disability and vulnerability,” Lisa wrote on the fundraiser page.

“They’re the nicest couple in the world,” she added in a phone interview.

Dijon said the experience has left her shaken and wary of extending help to others.

“I love being friendly, but this has just really made me rethink everything,” she said. “I think that’s what bothers me the most, is that there’s a very strong possibility that the next time someone needs help and asks me for help, I’m going to do everything I can to get away from that person instead of helping.”

She said friends in other cities, including San Diego and Anaheim, had heard of similar ruses.

Her advice to others with mobility impairments: be cautious when offering help to strangers.

“I’ve always considered myself fairly independent. I’m not used to feeling so vulnerable, and this just showed ... how much of an easy target I am, and other people who are either elderly or also who can’t move around,” Dijon said.