Being a Good Samaritan just ain't what it used to be.
In Tampa, Fla., tow truck driver Daniel Drake saw a car in front of him swerving dangerously. So he and another driver forced what appeared to be a drunken driver to move off the interstate highway and into the breakdown lane to prevent an accident from occurring. When a Florida Highway Patrol trooper arrived, the swerving driver was indeed arrested for drunk driving. But then Drake was also given a $120 ticket for improperly stopping on the highway and blocking the flow of traffic.
Drake says he helped stop the drunk driver because two of his children were killed by a drunk driver in 2002. He plans to fight the ticket in court.
A Connecticut Good Samaritan fared no better. Larry Valletta stopped to help at a highway accident scene when one of the people involved in the accident stole his car.
"It didn't even dawn on me that someone was going to hop in my car and take off with it," an embarrassed Valletta told reporters.
David Utz had an even worse experience being a Good Samaritan. The Kentucky man was in a repair shop to get some work done on his truck when he was approached by a stranger carrying a wad of cash who said he needed a ride. Utz thought he was just using the cash to pay for some repairs at the shop, so he agreed to help the man.
But while driving through Covington, KY., he looked in his rearview mirror and saw 10 police cruisers following him all with lights and sirens on.
When he pulled over, he and his passenger were arrested for bank robbery. Apparently the man he had given a ride to had just robbed a nearby bank and fled the scene on foot. Utz had unknowingly become his "getaway driver."
"It was a day from hell, let me tell you," Utz said after he was finally released from jail.
But probably the most unlucky Good Samaritans were two teenage girls in Durango, Colo. Taylor Ostergaard, 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitti, 18, decided they wanted to do something nice for the folks in their neighborhood, so they spent one evening last July baking chocolate chip and sugar cookies. Then they wrapped them in colored paper with red and pink hearts that carried the message, "Have a great night. Love, The T and L Club," for Taylor and Lindsey. Then they set off to make their good-neighbor deliveries.
Pretty nice of them, huh? Not according to Wanita Young. The 49-year-old neighbor said she saw "shadowy figures" outside her house banging repeatedly on her door. But when she yelled, "Who's there?" no one answered.
Young said she was so frightened by the intruders that she had to spend the night at her sister's house. And to make matters worse, she even had to go to the hospital in the morning because she was still shaking and had an upset stomach from her frightening ordeal the night before.
Of course, when the girls heard what had happened to Young, they apologized.
So you would think that would be the end of the story. Wrong. Even though the girls apologized for the unfortunate misunderstanding, Young said they didn't seem sincere enough. And of course, nothing says "I'm sorry" better than cash, so Young sued the girls.
You would think this sort of frivolous lawsuit would get laughed out of court, but the only one laughing is Young. The judge awarded her $900 to pay for her medical bills. Fortunately, he rejected her request for punitive damages, saying the girls didn't really intend to hurt Young.
So how did the girls handle their first experience as a Good Samaritan? Lindsey's mother said they "cried and cried."
John Graham is an Advocate Columnist. His column appears each Sunday in the Advocate. He can be reached at jgraham19@woh.rr.com.
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