Metro Vancouver Transit Police are seeking the public's assistance to locate a woman caught on camera apparently stealing a cellphone from a man with physical disabilities.

The incident took place around 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 12, transit police said. A 19-year-old man who uses a wheelchair was aboard the 96 B-Line bus near the intersection of 80 Avenue and King George Boulevard when a woman approached him.

Surveillance video from the bus shows the woman grabbing the man's phone, which he is holding in his lap. In the video the suspect appears to rip the phone from the victim's hand and walk away, leaving him visibly upset.

Transit police said the young man is paralyzed in one hand, which made holding onto the phone when the woman grabbed it more difficult. They said he called to the bus driver for help, but the driver couldn't hear him.

Police describe the suspect as a white woman of undetermined age. She is 5'4" or 5'5" tall, with a slim build and blond hair. She was wearing a brown hoodie with green designs, brown/green leggings, and green running shoes, police said.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information about the suspect's identity is asked to call the transit police tip line at 604-516-7419 and refer to file 2019-16866. Tips can also be provided by text message to 87-77-77.

The victim is a student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, police said, adding that the program there is helping him to improve his independence and job skills.

Police said the victim's mobile phone had a large screen that helped make texting and reading easier for him. The officers investigating the case have helped to pay off the man's outstanding debt on the phone, so that he can get a new one, police said.

In a release about the incident, transit police called it "extremely troubling and hard to understand."