$16,000 donated to buy cop killer's lookalike a car

James Tully speaks to Reuters outside his factory in Mountainhome, Pennsylvania. Police seems to...
James Tully speaks to Reuters outside his factory in Mountainhome, Pennsylvania. Police seems to think Tully, a local factory worker, bears an uncanny resemblance to the fugitive Eric Frein, who is suspected of fatally shooting a state trooper and wounding another on September 12. Photo by Reuters
Jim Tully's hours-long walks to and from work in the Pocono Mountains, where he has been repeatedly stopped by police in a case of mistaken identity in the manhunt for a Pennsylvania cop killer, may be coming to an end.

News of the factory worker's run-ins with authorities searching for fugitive Eric Frein, wanted in the September 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 (local time) 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.

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.

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