1 September 2023
After his wheelchair and vehicle were stolen in St. Paul, a 26-year-old continues to be thankful for the community support he’s received.
Contributions to a GoFundMe and funds from the local O’Neill Foundation of Hope will allow Kyle Schultz to get a wheelchair-accessible van, his mother said Thursday. The foundation also purchased a new electric wheelchair for Schultz, who has ALS, immediately after it was stolen.
“I’m just so grateful for everyone that has made this happen,” Schultz said.
Kyle Schultz and his dog, Deuce. (Courtesy of the family)
Home surveillance video showed an unidentified person prying open a door of Schultz’s 2012 Chevrolet Tahoe to steal it from his driveway in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood the morning of July 10. The SUV was found abandoned the next day in the city’s North End with all four tires removed, as well as the mirrors, grill and headlights missing.
Police collected evidence from the vehicle, including a fingerprint, which they matched to Keon Deonte McDowell, 29, of St. Paul, according to a criminal complaint. The Ramsey County attorney’s office charged McDowell with auto theft.
Phone records for McDowell’s number showed he was in the area at the time of the theft, the complaint said. McDowell has prior convictions for motor vehicle theft stemming from 2012 and 2013 cases.
Keon Donte McDowell (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)
Jodi Halverson, Schultz’s mother, had been fundraising even before the theft to get her son a van because it had been difficult for him to get in and out of the SUV; they were planning to sell the Tahoe to cover some of the cost for a more accessible vehicle.
Ryan O’Neill, co-founder of the O’Neill Foundation, saw a news story about the theft, and was moved to buy Schultz a wheelchair.
Rollx Vans in Savage contacted O’Neill to tell him they had a wheelchair-accessible van for Schultz for a discounted price, Halverson said.
The GoFundMe raised about $15,000, and the O’Neill Foundation is providing the rest of the funds for the van. Halverson thanked everyone who donated and the foundation.
“It means the world to him and to me,” she said. “It’s so awesome that the community came together.”
O’Neill and Schultz have become friends, and they were heading to the Minnesota State Fair Thursday night.
Schultz was 24 when he was diagnosed with ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
“He’s such a good-hearted young man,” O’Neill said Thursday. “On the one hand your heart breaks for what he’s going through but you also just really admire that he’s taking it one day at a time and doing the best he can. … It causes you to reflect a little bit, to be grateful for what you have, to be appreciative to, to try to help others.”
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