'No good deed goes unpunished': Good Samaritan's car stolen while saving elderly man in traffic
CHERRY HILL, N.J. - A Good Samaritan was trying to do the right thing but had his car stolen as a result. He was helping an elderly man who had fallen in the middle of the road when he says someone jumped in his car and took off.
Without hesitation, a man from New Jersey jumped into action to help a stranger in need. Matthew Mullen’s reward was his car being stolen and eventually totaled during a hit-and-run.
According to Cherry Hill police, Mullen’s car was stolen on Kings Highway and involved in a four-car wreck a short time later in the 600 block of State Street in Camden.
The suspects who wrecked the car ran from the scene and haven’t been caught. Mullen is 14 months sober and said he’s always gone out of his way to help people.
The car was more than just a way around— it was a return to normalcy and a way to earn a living.
"I always wanted to be that person that was able to be there for others when they needed someone," Mullen explained.
He was on his last delivery of the night on Kings Highway when he saw an elderly man in distress.
"He ends up collapsing in the road about 10 feet in front of my car as I’m doing 60 down Kings Highway," Mullen said. "I swerve and avoid hitting him, try and stop traffic and pull my car over onto the side street right there and leave my car to help this old man out of the road. Me and this young kid and his mother parked in the parking lot of Dollar General and me and this young kid yell 1,2,3 and lift this guy up."
They get him out of the road to safety. When Mullen got back to his car he realized it was stolen with his phone inside.
The next day a woman who was hit by his car came to his mother's house with his insurance paperwork and police let him know his car was involved in a four-car wreck.
"I only had liability so I’m essentially out $5,000. The two men that were in the accident fled the scene of the crime," he said.
Mullen said he would do it all over again even knowing what ultimately happened.
"I would not hesitate to save that man’s life," Mullen said. "Money comes and goes and it’s unfortunate that someone saw that opportunity and took it but I wouldn’t do anything differently. God forbid I hadn’t gotten out and helped that man. He may have been more injured."
He hopes the people that did this are physically okay but that they are caught and charged for what they did.
His mother set up a GoFundMe to help him get back on the road, Mullen said any little bit will help. If you wish to donate, please click here.
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