Police: Thieves steal van from Navy Veteran known as 'Man with a Van' who helps neighbors
SHORELINE, Wash. - Eric McCullough is known as "the man with a van" and does handy work for his friends, older neighbors and anyone who needs help. Now the Navy veteran is asking for the community’s help in finding his stolen van.
Eric often does the work for a fraction of the cost.
In fact, the night his van was stolen, he was at Home Depot picking up supplies to help someone with a pipe leak in their garage.
"I packed up my van and headed over, and I knew I’d need some supplies, so I stopped here at Home Depot," said McCullough. "I was in there maybe 12-14 minutes, came out and my van was gone. My heart was gone. My voice went up, my heart went down."
McCullough takes pride in helping people day in and day out and said the van has everything he needs to help others.
"You’re not just stealing a car, you’re stealing a way of life," said McCullough. "You’re stealing my rent payment. You’re stealing my livelihood."
The vehicle is a 1999 Ford white panel van.
McCullough is a Navy veteran with a service-connected disability and said there’s a big Navy sticker on the front windshield.
There’s also a push bumper up front, ladders on top, big off-road tires and safety gates on the back window.
McCullough said his catalytic converter was stolen two months ago, and he straight piped it, so his van is very loud.
"My heart really goes out to the victim in this he does some great things for people who just can’t afford to have certain things fixed on their house," said Interim Chief Ryan Abbott. "Unfortunately, sometimes this just happens and this just happened to the wrong person. We really hope we can help him find his van, locate it, get it back to him and hopefully his tools are still in it."
Shoreline Police are investigating and said anyone who has information on the whereabouts of this van can call 911.
The community is supporting McCullough through a gofundme, which they hope will give him a kick-start after losing his work van.