Being handicapped is not obstacle

One San Francisco man learned that, even if being handicapped did not prevent him from pursuing his career of choice, perhaps he chose the wrong career:

A San Francisco man who is paraplegic was convicted Friday of two counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery in thefts he conducted from the seat of his SUV in the Richmond District over two months in 2005.

Cuong Vinh Tran, 35, was found guilty by a jury that deliberated a day-and-a-half and also acquitted him on one count of robbery, the San Francisco district attorney’s office said in a statement.

Tran, who uses a wheelchair, robbed one victim of $160 and another of $500 and a necklace valued at $1,000, spokeswoman Bilen Mesfin said.

“According to the charges, the defendant would swoop up on the victims in his van, who were all on foot. Swearing at them in Cantonese, he would act like he had a gun under his sweatshirt,” Mesfin said in a written statement. “His defense included an alibi witness, which the jury did not believe.”

The victims didn’t know Tran uses a wheelchair because he remained in the SUV during the robberies, Mesfin said. He will be sentenced after a trial relating to two prior robbery allegations concludes, possibly Wednesday, Mesfin said.

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