'Someone Cares': Fort Collins Body Shop Cleans Jeep Covered With Racial Slurs
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) – A man in Fort Collins said his faith in community was being restored thanks to strangers who helped him out in a time of need. Kevin Woodman's Jeep was recently tagged with racial slurs. However, when he posted it online, he was overjoyed to see a local body shop owner wanted to clean the vehicle free of charge.
Woodman, a Black Coloradan, said he was disheartened to find his car vandalized with racial slurs last week. Not only was it hurtful, but it was also embarrassing.
"I was like, if I am going to be driving around with this for a while, how am I going to get this off?" Woodman said. "Even taking it out of my driveway was embarrassing."
Woodman didn't know who graffitied his vehicle or why, but when he posted the images online they quickly ended up in front of Matt Gonzales of Dynamic Customs. Gonzales connected with Woodman and offered his services for free.
"I was very relieved to see someone cares," Woodman said.
"It came in with paint marks and damage all over the vehicle," Gonzales said. "Several degrading words and slurs. Every panel pretty much had paint on it."
Gonzales said some portions of the cleaning and repair were difficult, while others came off easily. Even though it took hours to complete, he said it was worth it.
"It hit home for me. It is disheartening to see this stuff in our community, still," Gonzales said. "It just kind of stuck me how people can do this to people, and how horrible something like this really is."
The Jeep was returned to Woodman the same day and was cleaned off as if the tagging never happened.
"Acts like that, it means a lot," Woodman said.
"We were just glad we could get it done for you," Gonzales told Woodman.
"It was a relief," Woodman said. "There's a lot of good people here in Fort Collins. There is not a lot of hate here."
