A Colorado man who stopped to help an accident victim who had rolled his car on the highway and was trapped inside got a real life lesson in the saying, “No good deed goes unpunished.” Once the victim was freed, he stole the Good Samaritan’s truck and fled.
Jesus Rivera said in a report to AOL Auto that he pulled the victim from the car and dragged him to the side of the road to safety. The victim then said he had children trapped in the back seat — and when Mr. Rivera went to free them, the man stole his truck.
There were no children trapped in the car, Mr. Rivera told AOL.
“I don’t regret it,” Mr. Rivera said, in a Colorado 9 News report. “I would do it again.”
That was a year ago, but the story doesn’t end there.
Viewers and readers who learned of his good deed chipped in to buy him a new truck — but it was stolen. And in the days that followed, the truck thief accumulated $520 in parking tickets, AOL reported. Mr. Rivera learned of the tickets just recently, when Adams County government officials started pressuring him to pay.
Ultimately, Mr. Rivera said in the AOL report that he was able to convince the city he wasn’t liable for the tickets, but not before visiting police and requesting they comb their records for the proper stolen vehicle report. Even after all this — Mr. Rivera said to Colorado 9 News that he would definitely stop and help anyone in need.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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