HAPPY VALLEY, Ore. - Sheriff's deputies have recovered a scooter taken Tuesday from a woman with cerebral palsy who left it near a bike rack outside the Clackamas Town Center Mall.

"The scooter just stopped working, so I had to leave it and summon help," said its owner, Theresa Soto. "I tried to call everyone on my phone, but no one was available to help." When she returned with help, the scooter was gone.

It's not, however, a victorious return. The scooter is apparently in pieces.

A spokesperson at the the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office in Happy Valley tell KATU that a motorist discovered the motorized scooter Saturday afternoon - disassembled along Interstate 205.

Meanwhile, after Soto contacted KATU about her plight, community citizens have stepped up to offer assistance. Police tell KATU that a viewer called the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office on Friday offering a motorized wheel chair that belonged to his recently deceased mother. Additionally, a representative for the family-owned company Shamrock Medical, in Portland, called the sheriff's office Saturday morning saying that a customer had pledged to buy Soto a brand-new scooter. 

Soto reportedly told deputies that she is "overwhelmed with the outpouring of generosity" and intends to mull over the offers, including one from a scooter store, before making a decision.

Soto is expected at the sheriff's North Station in Beaverton to identify her motorized scooter Saturday evening. 

The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office asks anyone with information on the scooter's disappearance and dissemblance to contact its confidential Tip Line at (503) 723-4949 or its Web site.
 

UPDATE: Theresa Soto has identified and recovered her stolen scooter at the North Station. According to a sheriff's office spokesperson, "Soto was saddened when she saw her scooter in pieces, [but] she was very impressed with the kindness of people in Portland."

Soto is reportedly the proud owner of a new scooter donated to her earlier Saturday. KATU has yet to receive word on where she received that scooter.

Soto told deputies that she plans to rehab her old scooter and potentially donate it to another person who needs it.