Former DARE officer Terry Polston, who taught generations of students in Warsaw schools, passed away in December. He left behind a powerful legacy – and a van that people adorned with signatures.

The city sold the van in May as part of a trade-in to a Fort Wayne dealership for newer police vehicles.

The van was owned by the city; even before Terry Polston passed away, it was scheduled to get traded in. Still, many feel the van is a symbol of Polston’s legacy – and shouldn’t have been sold.

Terry’s brother Randy heard the news on Friday.

"I was shocked, I was dismayed, Friday afternoon I felt like I was hit with a sledgehammer,” Polston said.

Randy thought the van was sitting in storage. He was waiting to hear from Warsaw’s police chief about the van. The first news he heard about the vehicle was that it had been sold for $1,500.

The van sat at a dealership in Fort Wayne. Meanwhile, people around town were talking about it – and at a council meeting on Monday night, Randy and others voiced their concerns.

On Wednesday, Winona Lake business owner Jim Anderson said he would buy the van from the dealership and deliver it to the Polstons Friday.

"My own kids went through that program, I think it kept those kids on the straight and narrow,” said Anderson.

"It's obviously the right thing to do. This is the way it works in a close-knit community like Warsaw and I can tell you if it weren't me that did this, there would be somebody right behind me ready to step forward and do it,” said Anderson.

Polston says he wants the van because it belongs to the kids of Warsaw. He's still taking ideas for what to do with it.

A failure of communication occurred, he said, but afterwards everybody seemed to be on board trying to get the van back.

"I don't believe at all that there was any intent by any of our police officers, our city government, to disrespect OP,” he said, referring to his brother’s nickname, which stands for Officer Polston.