Published: November 04, 2009 03:26 pm      

Car auctioned despite vandalism

Ada — A car donated to a church to raise funds for a charitable organization was vandalized Monday night.

Despite the severity of the damage, several area businesses were able to fix the car and it was auctioned off anyway.

The car, a 1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue, was donated by a member of the Central Church of Christ on Stadium Drive.

The car was donated last week for an auction Tuesday night with the proceeds going to the Compassionate Outreach Clinic which is run by the church.

“We provide free medical care to the underserved in Pontotoc County,” said church member Martin Kubier.

The man who donated the vehicle parked it near the street in front of the church so passers by could see that it was for sale.

When he arrived at the church Tuesday morning, he discovered the vandalism.

The windows of all four doors were broken and the windshield was smashed and destroyed.

A mirror was broken off and it appeared the damage was done with a baseball bat of some kind.

John Chaney with Weldon’s Auto Center provided free labor while Langley Body Shop clean up the large amounts of glass littering the inside of the car and OK Auto Glass provided the windows.

Kubier said the vehicle was nearly completely fixed by the evening auction with all but the windshield repaired.

The car was sold at the auction and a windshield will be installed today.

Kubier said the car sold for more than fair price and the entire auction was a “huge success.”

Ada police are investigating this and several other crimes where either auto or residential windows were broken in the past several days. Chaney estimated the damage to the car to be $560 at the low end.

Anyone with information on this or any crime can phone CrimeStoppers at 33CATCH or 332-2824.