SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The man accused of stealing a wheelchair from a young girl suffering from cancer allegedly left behind a critical clue that made it simple for police to track him down.

The victim’s mother summed it up simply: “What an idiot,” Angela Morris said.

Angela’s van, containing a wheelchair for her ill daughter and a trunk filled with other belongings, was stolen on New Year’s Eve.

Police found the vehicle in Citrus Heights on Sunday, but when Angela looked for her belongings, they were all gone — including the wheelchair.

Mariah Morris, a sixth grader who has battled cancer since she was four years old, said the wheelchair was the only way for her to get around outside of the house.

Angela found nothing but garbage left behind inside the vehicle, but when she cleaned out the trash, she found something left behind by the suspect.

“I happened to come across this note that was written by him,” she said, which contained “two phone numbers on it and his first and last name.”

The letter and fingerprints led police to 20-year-old Samuel Erol Leathers, who allegedly told them he tossed Mariah’s wheelchair in a dumpster.

“Sounded really stupid,” Mariah said.

Leathers is being held in Placer County on multiple charges of vehicle theft and possession of stolen property. His bail is set at $25,000.