Good Samaritan Delivery Driver Helps Stabbing Victim, Then Gets Hit By His Own Car By Thief
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A delivery driver's attempt to save a life turned him into a crime victim.
Brandon Augst has cuts and scabs on his legs, along with some gnarly road rash across his back.
"It hurts a lot," said the 21-year-old from North Branch.
They're painful scars for a selfless young man still more worried about the person he was trying to help. Augst is a DoorDash driver who prefers to do his work in the Twin Cities. He was making a delivery Tuesday at about 11 p.m. near University Avenue and Victoria Street in St. Paul.
Seconds before he arrived, police said two men got in a fight by the light rail station at the intersection. One got stabbed in the neck and was lying in the street.
"He was like rolling around and he put his hand up in the air," said Augst, who then noticed blood around the victim. He pulled over, called 911, and ran over to help him.
"He had like a huge hole right here probably about bigger than a quarter," he said, adding that he was surprised other people didn't immediately jump in to help. "No one else was doing anything. Some guy was just sitting in his car right in front of [the victim]."
Augst said police got to the scene quickly. He stayed on the phone with 911 as the officer and another bystander helped the victim. That's when Augst noticed a man getting into his car, which he left running and unlocked.
"The cop is standing next to me. I said, 'That guy's taking my car!' and then I ran over there … I was right in front of the car. He just floored it right into me and I literally rolled over the top, I fell off the back of my car," he said. "Everything that I have except for my clothes was in my car."
Augst said the thief tried using his credit card at a gas station. He's hopeful surveillance cameras captured him, adding that police plan to retrieve any video.
The man who was stabbed will survive, which besides getting back his car and belongings was Augst's biggest concern.
"I didn't think he would make it because he got stabbed right in the neck by the jugular," he said.
Augst's car is a 2012 Toyota Yaris Hatchback. It's light blue with the license plate MGR 991. The left rear door has a dent. Anyone who has seen the car is asked to call St. Paul Police.
A GoFundMe was set up to help Augst recover his losses. Click here to donate.
