A man in a wheelchair was punched and robbed of loose change twice in six days by the same suspect, police allege.

The first incident happened while the victim was on York Street on Sept. 6. At about 7:30 p.m., a man approached the victim, punched him, and stole some loose change the victim had on his wheelchair tray.

Then, on Sept. 11 at about 8:15 p.m., "the same suspect again approached the same victim, near York and William streets, and stole a quantity of loose monies."

This time the suspect was followed by a bystander, who called police and directed them to the suspect.

A 35-year-old Ottawa man is charged with robbery, theft under $5,000 and two counts of breach of probation. He appeared in court on Thursday.