Homeless Good Samaritan Suing Couple Who Raised $400K To Help Him
NEW JERSEY (CBS Local) - A homeless man whose act of generosity went viral is now suing the people he helped.
Johnny Bobbitt received worldwide praise after he gave a stranded motorist in Philadelphia his last $20, so she could get gas last year. In return, Katie McClure and her boyfriend, Mark D'Amico, started a GoFundMe page that quickly went viral and raised over $400,000 for the good Samaritan.
McClure and D'Amico announced that the funds would go towards buying the homeless man a place to live, a truck, and help provide him with a retirement trust. Bobbitt and his lawyer are now claiming that the New Jersey couple have mismanaged a large portion of the donations they received.
The couple denied claims the money was being held back on purpose. They reportedly added that they're wary of giving Bobbitt large sums of cash all at once because of the fear he'll use it to buy drugs.
Bobbitt's lawyer, Chris Fallon, did admit to reporters that his client had a substance abuse issue. "It's not heroin or opioids but another drug problem," Fallon said, via WTVR. The attorney explained that the lawsuit was filed so a guardian can be hired to manage the donations his client received through McClure's fundraiser.
"From what I can see, the GoFundMe account raised $402,000 and GoFundMe charged a fee of approximately $30,000," Fallon explained. "Mark D'Amico and Kate McClure gave Johnny about $75,000. There should be close to another $300,000 available to Johnny."
Since the GoFundMe page went viral, McClure and D'Amico were able to get Bobbitt a place of his own to live in. Bobbitt received a camper which was parked on the couple's property in New Jersey until June. Bobbitt's lawyer added that the homeless man was originally promised a house and his client would prefer to live in his home state of North Carolina.
[H/T CBS Philly]