Truck full of donated supplies for veterans stolen in Oakland Hills

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Military veterans are horrified and outraged over the theft of a 26-foot U-Haul truck in the East Bay. Its contents were critical to a Wounded Warriors bike ride. Organizers are now trying to fill the void after the theft.

"It was sitting out in front in front of the street, just like I expected it to be," said Marine veteran Ulysses Adams.

The 26-foot-long truck that Adams drove with donated supplies for a wounded veterans group was parked in front of his home in the Oakland Hills Friday night. But on Saturday, the next morning, the truck was gone.

The truck had 50 cases of Gatorade and lots more cases of bottled water for "Ride 2 Recovery," a veterans program that sponsors a 450 mile bicycle ride each year from Palo Alto to Santa Monica.

The Gatorade and water were donated by the sports drink maker and the truck donated by U-Haul.

More than 100 veterans and their supporters will be participating in the ride come Sunday. Most are injured veterans who find the ride therapeutic.

Adams was wounded in the Persian Gulf during Desert Fox in the late 90s.

"I was going through a lot of issues and not finding a lot of resources which were helping me," said Adams.

He's been a participant for years. The bicycle rides, he says, have helped him.

"The camaraderie that you find, at least for me, I've been out for 16 years and this is the closest thing to being in the military that I've experienced," he said.

It was the second vehicle theft on Reinhardt Drive that morning.

Dorothy Lee Krause witnessed the other one.

"He went up to my neighbor's house and he just politely got in the car, started the vehicle, and took off," she said.

Police say the thieves will most likely abandon the truck. It's what's inside that they would want. But Gatorade and water? Hopefully that's not what they would consider valuable.