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News of the factory worker's run-ins with authorities
searching for fugitive Eric Frein, wanted in the Sept. 12
shooting death of one state trooper and wounding of another, has
sparked a crowdfunding campaign to buy him a car.
Donations are pouring in and by Friday the campaign had raised
nearly $16,000, more than six times the original goal of $2,500.
"I'm overwhelmed with the support from the community and the
area," Tully said in a telephone interview on Friday.
Tully, 39, who says friends tell him he looks like Frein from a
distance, said he had been stopped by police at least 20 times
on his 4-hour long walks to and from his job at a thermal
products factory.
He said he would use the cash contributed by more than 700
people over two days to get a vehicle to get to work.
"And anything left over will be used for maintenance and
gasoline," Tully said.
The crowdfunding idea came from the daughter of a former
coworker, Tully said.
"I never asked for this to be done," he said. "It's just the
community showing its support on its own."
Meanwhile, a neighbor across the street from where he lives, has
been offering Tully a ride to work, he said.
A state police spokesman said troopers were aware of Tully and
that he had been stopped walking through the search area, but
had no further comment.
Hundreds of state and federal law enforcement officers continue
to search the Poconos woods where they believe Frein, 31, who is
on the FBI Most Wanted list, has been hiding since the shooting
that killed Corporal Bryon Dickson and wounded Trooper Alex
Douglass outside the state police barracks in Blooming Grove.
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Richard Chang)
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