Stolen Van Recovered in Haines Park

Barrington police recovered a Ford van reported stolen from Providence in Haines Memorial Park early last Friday morning. 

The van was spotted about 6 am backed into heavy brush on a small trail in the park behind the baseball field and dog park. It was described as having heavy damage on the underside with anti-freeze leaking from the radiator, said Barrington Police Chief John LaCross.

The van also is believed to have hit a port-o-john near the nearby parking lot, which showed “doughnuts” made by a vehicle, LaCross said. Fresh tracks and tire marks led to the van ditched in the brush, he said. 

The owner of the van is a man from Connecticut who was on his way to Martha’s Vineyard for the weekend. He apparently left it parked outside a building in Providence on Thursday. When he returned to the van early Friday morning, it had disappeared. It is not known if the keys were left in the vehicle. 

The van was towed from the park with the help of a backhoe from the Department of Public Works. Some tree branches had to be cut away to extract the vehicle without causing further damage.