Restaurant worker truck stolen TWICE! Help please

Hi, my name is Anu, and I'm fundraising to help my dear friend and colleague, Cuyler, get some help recovering expenses from his truck that was stolen not once, but twice! This last time the truck was destroyed. Cuyler loved this truck that helped him get to work, to school, and beyond. Things are still tight in the restaurant industry that Cuyler works in. Any amount of money will help. Here is his story:

"So I moved to Seattle 9 years ago. I never thought I'd need another car again because of this miraculous new concept of a public transit system (we didn't really have that in Asheville NC). But as the pandemic took hold I realized how difficult it would be to continue my transient lifestyle. Also, simply for mental health, I couldn't remain stuck in my apartment for long. So I bought Koji, my little silver ‘92 Mazda pickup truck. He was a real loud little dumb dumb and soo fun. Hilarious on all counts. I found the little guy all the way down in Chehalis WA, shellacked with trump stickers and don't tread on me snakes.. little guy just needed a new home.

I drove him lovingly all over the city, countless peninsula trips, camping, ferry boat rides, helping alllll the homies move.. he was my little dumb dumb and I loved him. Always tinkering around in the engine and slapping on silly aftermarket stuff like headlights that changed color (sooo rad)..

Koji was literally unkillable, or so I thought, until last Friday 4/29 when I noticed he had been stolen :( Not like it's that hard to steal a truck from 1992, but it wasn't even the first time. The first time it happened my heart broke. It was about 3 months ago right after I moved to my new apartment in Cap Hill. I heard his loud stupid, straight piped engine rev and I looked outside and watched him being STOLEN IN THE ACT right before my eyes. I chased him down the street in a pair of crocs and shorty shorts terrifying the shit out of all the late night dog walkers, sprinting and shouting. Luckily I remembered a good friend of mine had some stolen property turn up around gasworks park (the homeless RV encampments just past it) and lo and behold, there was Koji.. sitting there, unscathed. So I jumped in and took him home. The very next day I DEEPLY hid one of those Apple tracking devices in Koji's chassis just in case this happened again. Laughed it off but lowkey I was terrified of the inevitable which was “of course this is gonna happen again, it's just a matter of when” :( sooo last Friday was the “when” and this time they got a lot further.

I opened my App and tracked Koji all the way down in Tacoma, Lakewood actually, just limping around side streets and alleys. Really gut wrenching knowing you're powerless in these scenarios to whatever is about to come. The police managed to find it the next evening, abandoned in the middle of the street. Which immediately tipped me off that it was destroyed.. and then the impound yard got a hold of me and gave me the brass tacks: “first of all, the thieves spray painted it black.. well most of it.. your clutch is stuck to the floor (which means they didn't know how to drive a stick and roached it driving from Seattle to Tacoma in 1st gear :man-facepalming::skin-tone-2:), your ignition was punched (housing destroyed in order to start it with a screwdriver etc.), and there's a severe knock when we manage to turn it over for about 2 seconds (likely a thrown piston). So he is dead-dead.” Not to mention it looked like a wild animal was trapped inside, I mean that thing was dee-stroyed. Trash everywhere. Also, petty theft throughout.. all my truck parts, nice tool set I carried around, title, registration, my personal mementos.. really sombering but also kind of impressive for the amount of carnage achieved in 24 hours. Anyway, I drove down to Lakewood to view the damage and figure out what I wanted to do.. and currently that's where Koji lies. I left my boy in a cold mud pit waiting on an insurance claims adjuster.

Feels bad man. It's the first car I've owned in 7 years and it felt really good having him be my wheels for the last 2. The endless fun and adventures we had won't soon be forgotten. I just don't know what comes next. Try to find something else whenever I can afford it :pensive:

:( Rip Koji"