Article content continued

The suspect was found on Saturday when an off-duty Calgary police officer recognized the man and police said the man is also a suspect in a number of thefts from arenas in the Calgary area.

Rosalind said her son is insulin-dependent as a Type 1 diabetic and needs the pump to regulate his insulin dosage. While the suspect has been charged Josh’s mother, Rosalind Davies, said the pump has not been recovered.

The pump is valued at over $5,000 and Josh had recently been accepted into a government-funded insulin pump program in October. The family called the pump’s manufacturer and a temporary pump was delivered to the Davies’ door within three hours.

“I’m pleased that Calgary and my community was behind us and got this guy caught,” Rosalind said.

A friend of Davies started an onlinefundraising campaign and raised over $6,000 to help the family purchase a new pump. Calgary radio station CJAY92 offered to pay for Josh’s replacement pump and the Davies will donate funds raised online to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Gerry Forbes Secret Wish.

Davies said she had a talk with her son about being more responsible with his new pump.

“Given that he’s 12 years old, he wears his life in his backpack and you just want him to go out and be a normal kid as much as possible,” Davies said. “I hope it’s a lesson learned and he had to learn the hard way.”

Kevin Roggeveen, 51, of Alberta, was arrested and charged with theft over $5,000 in relation to the theft of the insulin pump. He has also been charged with two counts of theft under $5,000 from a motor vehicle and one count of theft under $5,000.