Friends set up GoFundMe page to help Upper Darby landscaper after equipment stolen
Landscaper in Upper Darby has his equipment stolen from his driveway
A landscaper's equipment and trailer are stolen from his driveway. FOX 29's Joann Pileggi reports on his story and how his friends wanted to be there to help him.
UPPER DARBY, Pa. - Friends set up a GoFundMe page for an Upper Darby landscaper whose equipment was stolen.
Landscaper Mark Ryan won’t make a lot of headway with a weed trimmer, but that’s all he has left to work with.
“It was a 6x12 trailer open and it had like an $11,000 rider mower on the front and a $3,000 walk behind on the back," he told FOX 29.
His trailer was stolen from his driveway on Sunday, in between the time his son left at 5 p.m. and when he got home at 6 p.m.
“They basically just pulled their truck in, had it perfectly lined up because they had to take some time to get it,” explained Ryan, “There was a lady, a friend of mine up the street. She said she was behind it when she was going to the store. She saw them taking it away.”
Ryan filed a police report and also posted his plight on Facebook. Amazingly, the Philadelphia police found his trailer the next day, but something was still missing.
“When I went down to get the release form for the trailer, I saw the paper said the trailer was found empty.”
In the meantime, his Facebook post was shared over and over again, with comments about Ryan and his regular volunteer gig with the homeless in Kensington. Then, someone saw Ryan’s mowers on Facebook Marketplace, but the post disappeared when he tried to find it.
“It was probably a fake name and fake location, all of that.”
While Ryan is bummed out, there is a silver lining. His friends have set up a GoFundMe page for him.
“Mark works at a church. He doesn’t make a whole lot of money doing that, so he needs his landscaping business and we felt bad about that and we’d like to try to help Mark get his equipment back,” said Ryan’s friend Jason Campuzano.
“Everyone thinks this is an evil world, but when you see people rally around and trying to help you and makes you, your heart, makes you feel good,” added Ryan.
Ryan says if someone has bought his mowers, he would buy them back with any money from the GoFundMe campaign and donate the rest. Police in Upper Darby are looking into the theft.
If you wish to help, please click here.
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