Theft of Car Jeopardizes Vets’ Raffle

The donated and newly restored ’69 Buick Riviera was supposed to help veterans who had lost jobs or health since serving their country.

But on Tuesday, the vintage car was stolen from a mechanic’s home in East L.A., leaving two veterans groups without their raffle prize and means to raise money just a few days before Veterans Day.

“This was going to be the big event. Now we have nothing,” said Vietnam veteran George Garcia.

The plan to raffle the car had been in the works for months.

Brian Trimbach, 49, of Chino donated his “pride and joy” to Garcia, a childhood friend. With the help of fellow vets who donated money, Garcia, 50, was having the car spruced up. The fund-raiser was part of the Remembering Our Veterans and Their Families event in Arcadia.

The car was behind a chained fence, where a mechanic, also a Vietnam vet, was putting finishing touches on it. According to neighbors, someone used bolt cutters to cut the chain, and a white tow truck took the Buick away. The green car with a beige vinyl roof has the license number YBU000. It was taken near Hoefner Street and Whittier Boulevard, police said.

The veterans groups usually raise money through small events, like menudo breakfasts. But the vintage car could have raised as much as $5,000, Garcia said.

“It might not seem like a lot of money for some people, but for us, it meant a lot,” he said.

The San Gabriel Valley/East L.A. Veterans Employment Committee and the Neighborhood Coalition of Veterans Services East L.A., which work together, help veterans find drug and alcohol rehabilitation or marriage counseling. Those without transportation get bus tokens. Those with failing sight get vouchers for prescription glasses. The groups help jobless--and homeless--veterans find jobs, and then buy them tools and uniforms when the job requires them. They negotiate to keep indigent veterans from being evicted.

The Veterans Day event will still be held Sunday at Arcadia Park, Huntington Drive and Santa Anita Avenue, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with food, flyovers by World War II planes and parachute jumpers--but without the raffle.

Trimbach said he was less upset about the theft of the car than about what the loss represented.

“George has given his heart, his blood, his marriage to veterans. He has sacrificed his life for a chunk of history and for the people who participated in it, in many cases, the guys who didn’t get the parades,” Trimbach said.

Garcia said it’s especially upsetting that the theft occurred in East L.A. “East L.A. is one of the most highly decorated areas when it came to combat,” Garcia said. “It’s a shame this happened there.”

Anyone with information about the car is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department at (323) 264-4151. To donate to the veterans groups, call George Garcia at (323) 887-3998.