CONTRA COSTA COUNTY (KRON) — Deliveries for a non-profit that takes food to the hungry in Contra Costa County were difficult Monday because someone stole its biggest delivery truck over the weekend.

But at the Pleasant Hill headquarters, KRON4 was there when the organization got the call it was desperately waiting for.

“I don’t know whether it was criminals or joy riders,” White Pony Express President Gary Conner said.

The largest truck for White Pony Express is affectionately named Suzie. It is used to pick up rescued food from restaurants and grocery stores and take it to other non-profits that feed the hungry in Contra Costa County.

Even though the truck was locked with a club across the steering wheel, someone stole it from the headquarters parking lot over the weekend.

“We certainly don’t hold any animosity…,” Conner said. “We would just like to have our truck back.”

The cost to replace the stolen truck is anywhere from $30,000-to-$70,000.

“To raise the money to replace Suzie is a pretty big deal,” Conner said.

With Suzie missing in action, it posed a logistical headache getting all the food to those who so need it.

“(We deliver) 5,000 pounds of food a day,” Conner said.

But then, in the middle of the interview with KRON4, there was a break in the case.

Police in San Jose found the truck.

Someone spotted Suzie a long way home, parked on the street in the South Bay.

With the news, there was a celebration.

“I’m relieved and I’m very happy. It can help us complete our mission, and we don’t have to spend the money to replace such a beautiful truck, so we are very happy,” Conner said.

White Pony Express plans to pick Suzie up on Tuesday and get the truck rolling again because so many hungry people depend on its deliveries every day.

Pleasant Hill police are investigating this crime and plan to find the person or people who stole “Suzie.”

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