Veteran replaces stolen driveway for free

APOPKA, Fla. (WFTV) - Concrete trucks were out in Apopka, Florida early Wednesday morning to pour what could be the county’s most famous driveway.

It puts an end to the strange theft WFTV first shared in 2023 that made headlines as far away as Berlin.

This all began when Amanda Brochu came home one day and found her driveway gone. Thanks to a local contractor’s generosity, there is concrete and a happy ending for this story.

With the cracking and beeping of heavy machinery, new concrete finally touched down at 1438 Bethesda Street Wednesday.

Workers carefully molded it into the shape of a new driveway.

It’s been a few weeks since the old one was ripped out by a contractor scammed out of thousands of dollars, mystifying Brochu, the homeowner.

“Come home and my driveway was gone,” Brochu had said.

Along with the rest of the world, the so-called theft caught the attention of Mikol Rowland.

A veteran and owner of MM Concrete Specialty.

“It was unbelievable. Nobody believes that he would steal a driveway. And during the holidays, that’s like the worst time ever,” Rowland said.

Rowland didn’t hesitate to reach out to WFTV and offered to replace the driveway for free.

This time, with the proper permit.

“We could bring some good into the world with it. So, there was there was no question about it,” Rowland said.

Rowland’s generosity allowed Brochu to pay it forward.

She sent the $10,000 she collected to replace her driveway to the Russell Home, a longstanding fixture of central Florida tasked with caring for the community’s most vulnerable.

The donation came at a perfect time since the nonprofit is preparing to take in three newborns, each needing round-the-clock care.

“I was put in a bad situation, but there’s a beautiful outcome to the story,” Brochu said.

And as he watched his 16-year-old son tending to his company’s act of kindness, Rowland said he had no regrets.

“It’s just a win-win-win for everybody,” Rowland said.

There’s one final loose end to this story as there is still no word on whether deputies were ever able to catch up with the contractor that ripped out the driveway or the scammer in Orange County.

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