A group of Medina County Boy Scouts is seeing the worst in people and the best in people over the span of a few days.
One day after News 5 reported on a stolen Boy Scout Trailer and Pinewood Derby track, several people came forward with offers to donate or loan a track to the group of boys from Sullivan.
Boy Scout Troop 556 and Cub Scout Pack 556 had raised more than $2,000 to pay for their aluminum track. A grant and more scout fundraising paid for the trailer, which is worth about $4,500.
The trailer, which was stolen on either Friday night or Saturday morning, remained missing as of Tuesday evening.
In addition to the track donation offers, the scouts also heard from people willing to put up reward money.
Shawn Newman, the committee chair for the pack and the troop, said the scouts will accept a $1,000 reward offer from a man who wanted to help out. The reward will be given to anyone who can direct police to the stolen trailer and track. If not found, Newman said the cash will go towards the deductible and a new track will be ordered.
The 14-foot, white trailer was stolen from Letter Perfect Signs on Chippewa Road. Newman owns the business.
It was most likely hitched to a vehicle and driven away, according to police.
Newman was furious that a crook or crooks stole from the Boy Scouts.
"Stealing from anybody is bad, but stealing from the scouts is exceptionally bad," Newman said. We're spending our time teaching these kids how to be men and teaching them the values. Now, we're going to have to teach them how there's a lot of people out there that don't have the same values we do."
The track was supposed to be used for a pack derby race in March and a district race in April, but the scouts were scrambling on Monday, unsure if they would be able to come up with a replacement track.
The derby cars, made out of wood, are a longtime family scouting tradition.
Newman said the scouts always look forward to the race and the theft is a tough lesson for them.
"Honesty is one of the most important ones (principles) and we teach it and preach it all the time," said committee chair Shawn Newman. "So at least we can maybe turn this into a good lesson and teach the kids the opposite of honesty so they can understand it."
Montville Police Officer Seth Gaede believes the thief probably thought he or she was getting away with tools in the trailer, but by now, should realize a Boy Scout track was taken.
"We're a small town, low crime rate here so anytime we do get a theft like this, we are going to take it very seriously," Gaede said.
Police do not have any surveillance video of the theft. They are still investigating and looking for any leads.
Even before the donation offers, Newman seemed confident the setback wouldn't put the brakes on their race.
"We won't let them miss their event," Newman told News 5. "I don't care if we have to build one out of wood."
The trailer's license plate is SWG 2016.
Anyone with information on the trailer and track theft is asked to call Montville Township Police at 330-725-8314.
