TACOMA, Wash. — On Friday, a stolen donation truck was returned to the Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity.
The new box truck was stolen on Christmas Eve and the loss has already affected operations, forcing the group to delay picking up donations.
The truck was discovered nearly an hour north of Tacoma in a Redmond neighborhood. There was no major damage, but the license plates had been swapped with temporary ones.
According to Sherrana Kildun, Habitat for Humanity’s chief development officer, authorities received a tip from someone about a truck that matched the description of the stolen vehicle. She said the tipster saw coverage of the stolen truck on the news and called it in.
Kildun said Habitat is grateful for the news coverage and community support.
Director of Operations Ed Dopp said replacing the truck would have been almost impossible for the nonprofit organization.
“We were able to purchase it for $56,000. Currently, the same style truck in a new model is going for about $150,000. So it really put it out of our price range to get a new vehicle,” Dopp told KING 5 before the truck was found.
The nonprofit organization said a motion alarm went off on Dec. 24. The warning was dismissed because there weren’t any other issues.
Kildun said the thieves made off with more than their truck.
“They stole the truck. They also took a battery out of another truck," she said. “They hit a couple of other businesses that use that warehouse.”
Kildun said the stolen truck was the largest in their fleet and was so new it didn’t even have the organization’s logo on it yet.
The organization later learned that the power to the entire warehouse complex was cut off, which helped give the thieves access.
Habitat is now diverting resources to enhance anti-theft measures, like installing more security cameras and vehicle trackers.