Ft. Carson Family’s Car Found, Stolen Items Replaced
A car theft set off a wild 48 hours for a Fort Carson family.
It began with Serena Paragas going into labor early Sunday morning. Her husband, Pfc. Primo Paragas, went to warm the car up to take her to the hospital. It was loaded with a car seat, baby clothes, a notebook computer, iPod and digital camera. Primo said he was only away from the car for a minute to walk his wife to the vehicle when it was stolen.
“I just started bawling and ran into the bathroom and just sat there and was like, ‘Are you kidding me?'” said Serena.
Since the theft, there has been an outpouring of donations for the family from around the country, mainly from the Ft. Carson and Colorado Springs communities.
“Usually they say one bad apple spoils the bunch, and in this case we had one bad apple followed by an outpouring of phenomenal people,” said Primo Monday evening from the hospital where his son Jude was born.
The couple moved to the Springs less than three months ago, and said the car theft hasn’t soured their view of the area, considering what happened next.
“We weren’t really expecting donations to come pouring in, which has been phenomenal and crazy and unexpected,” said Primo.
A social network of women from Fort Carson helped coordinate the donation drive that has replaced nearly all the stolen goods and then some. Almost $500 has been raised for the family, as well as a load of baby supplies. It took the group about one day, with “like” tallies for the Army Wives of Fort Carson Club on Facebook going from a few hundred to more than 1,000 in a matter of hours. Every post was someone reaching out, wanting to help the Paragas.
“I bought a few things for the family with the newborn, if someone could e-mail and let me know where it needs to be taken to,” said one post by Rhonda Alfonso.
Dozens of other suggested ideas that could also add to the donations.
“It’s great to know there are amazing people out here and we’re very grateful for those who’ve donated things and prayed for our family,” said Primo.
In another unexpected turn, the Paragas’ car turned up on Monday.
“Cosmetically, the car is in perfect condition,” said Primo.
Unfortunately, the thieves took everything inside, including the camera that had snapshots from the couple’s honeymoon. The car was found in a parking lot with the license plate removed and replaced with a tag for a local dealership to make it look less suspicious. Police have made no arrests in the car theft.
The family expects to come home from the hospital on Tuesday.
