This was not your classic crime.
Members of the Mount Mitchell Shrine Club have been making their rounds across the county recently, selling tickets for a 1965 Rambler American. All the proceeds from the tickets will benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children.
But the Shriners’ good deed almost came to an abrupt end last week. Sometime between 1 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 26 and 4 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27, suspects broke into a storage building on Quality Way and stole the $6,500 Rambler, along with a 1961 green Schwinn boy’s motor bike, valued at $2,000.
McDowell County sheriff’s deputies spotted the car in a ditch on Old Greenlee Road around 4 a.m. Saturday, before the break-in was even known.
The storage building from where the car was stolen belongs to Bill Wiseman of U.S. 70 West in Marion, who is a Shriner.
“The keys were in the car, but the car was locked up,” Wiseman stated. “The keys won’t be in it anymore. ... I thought it was safe in that building with a big heavy metal door.”
The Rambler was “dirtied up” a little, according to Wiseman, but the damage was minimal. And he’s grateful.
“Thank the Lord they didn’t do any more damage to it than what they did,” he said. “I’m so thankful we got it back. We have sold so many tickets. It would have been a mess trying to straighten that out.”
Wiseman said he was out of town at a car show, and another Shriners Club member called to let him know about the crimes.
“They stole a motor bike, too,” he stated. “There was a boy’s bike and a girl’s bike sitting side by side, and they only took the boy’s bike.”
The culprits also made off with signs the Shriners made promoting the car raffle and caused $150 worth of damage to the storage building door.
Herman Hollifield donated the Rambler, which will be given away on Christmas Eve. Tickets are $5 each or three for $10. For more information, call 652-6838.
Anyone with information about the crimes or suspects is asked to call the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office at 652-4000 or McDowell County Crimestoppers at 65-CRIME. With Crimestoppers, your identity remains anonymous, and you could receive a cash reward.
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