Free Republic

A 25-year-old Ecuadorean migrant wanted for the brutal sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl at a Queens park was nabbed after good Samaritans smacked him around and tied him up with a belt. “I seen him a few times — he comes to this store to buy stuff,” Jeffrey Flores, who pounced on the creep. “I waited for him. I waited the whole day to see if he would come up. He came at night. “He came in, we went to buy something,” Flores, 24, told The Post. “I saw what he was trying to do, he looked back at...

A woman has been charged with murder and driving under the influence in a fatal interstate collision that killed two state troopers and a pedestrian in Pennsylvania. Jayana Tanae Webb, 21, was hit with a battery of felony charges on Tuesday after she allegedly rammed the troopers on I-95 just moments after they had pulled her over on suspicion of drunk driving. In January, Webb had boasted on Twitter: 'If you ask me, I'm the best drunk driver ever.' Surrounded by steely-faced troopers, Webb hunched over silently in a grey hoodie as she was escorted out of the Pennsylvania State...

There are horrible people out there in the world who search for victims. There are things you can do to protect yourself, and staying alert and aware of your surroundings is crucial. But sometimes, even when you do everything right, the odds are stacked against you. That’s what an 11-year-old from Queens experienced — and if it hadn’t been for two observant neighbors, she might not be here today. It was Saturday morning when Alexander Salas heard screaming. What he discovered was a scene he later described to CBS as “nerve-wracking”: a man trying to stuff a young girl into...

Nigerian authorities are warning that terrorists are trying new methods in their quest to inflict the most casualties possible with lone attackers: bring the good Samaritans to them. Much like serial killer Ted Bundy used elaborate ruses such as a cast and needing assistance to lure victims, Boko Haram's strategy involves drawing kindhearted would-be victims toward a suicide bomber, according to Nigeria's Ministry of Defense. It's a strategy that could be employed by terrorists other than the West African terror outlet that pledged solidarity with ISIS this past spring. "It has come to the knowledge of the Defence Headquarters that...

No good deed goes unpunished. The truth of that adage was confirmed in spades last week when a Montana couple, Jason and Tara Shane, described as Good Samaritans for helping a stranded young, Mexican motorist were shot and killed for their effort. Their daughter, Jorah Shane, 26, was wounded. Jesus Deniz Mendoza, 18, a Mexican national who entered the United States legally two years ago, shot the Shanes when they stopped to assist with a broken-down car. Shortly after the shooting, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement indicated that Mendoza had legally entered the country from Mexico through the San Ysidro...

Most Americans are deeply appreciative that our nation has welcomed millions of immigrants throughout our history. But is it possible to sustain a practice whereby social services are freely provided to anyone who can sneak across the border? Does such a practice ever reach a tipping point where it becomes self-defeating and detrimental to everyone in the nation? What does a community look like when there are not enough federal, state or local funds to meet the basic needs of the poor? Should limits ever be set on who gets to come across the border to America? Compare it to...

Two out-of-state teens accused of robbing an 80-year-old Slidell woman are behind bars after being chased down by two good Samaritans who witnessed the theft. According to a statement from the Slidell Police department, Jacob Little and Jacob Pilkington - both from North Carolina - were arrested Friday (May 30) after police say they robbed the elderly woman in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart on Northshore Boulevard.The duo, whose ages were not provided by authorities, were traveling to Texas to visit family members, but noticed they were low on gas so they decided to stop by the big box...

Some good samaritans are being credited with helping to save a woman and her two teenage daughters Saturday after their car plunged into Sheepshead Bay. It happened around 7 p.m. as witnesses say the woman was trying to maneuver into a parking spot along Emmons Avenue. The car instead careened over the sidewalk, through a railing and dove into Sheepshead Bay. "One gentleman jumped in. Another gentleman jumped on the roof of the car. They helped the people out and dragged them up to the dock," said one witness. No one was seriously hurt, but the three people in the...

Authorities in the District say a serious crash has closed the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Alabama Avenue Southeast Wednesday afternoon.

...Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger... showed that Americans are hungry for good old-fashioned heroism and happy endings. Thanks to our convoluted legal system, however, they may not get what they crave. A case in point involves Nigel Haskett, an employee at a McDonald's in Arkansas. In August, Haskett came to the rescue of a woman inside the restaurant being beaten in the face by a man...

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a young woman who pulled a co-worker from a crashed vehicle isn't immune from civil liability because the care she rendered wasn't medical. The divided high court appeared to signal that rescue efforts are the responsibility of trained professionals. It was also thought to be the first ruling by the court that someone who intervened in an accident in good faith could be sued. Lisa Torti of Northridge allegedly worsened the injuries suffered by Alexandra Van Horn by yanking her "like a rag doll" from the wrecked car on Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Torti...

Being a good Samaritan in California just got a little riskier. The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a young woman who pulled a co-worker from a crashed vehicle isn't immune from civil liability because the care she rendered wasn't medical. The divided high court appeared to signal that rescue efforts are the responsibility of trained professionals. It was also thought to be the first ruling by the court that someone who intervened in an accident in good faith could be sued. Lisa Torti of Northridge allegedly worsened the injuries suffered by Alexandra Van Horn by yanking her "like a...

Police hoping to nab thieves instead find good Samaritans Honesty foils car theft sting operation By Teresa Rochester Tuesday, December 25, 2007 The bait was tempting: a nondescript, unlocked rental car, parked in the lots of busy shopping centers in Thousand Oaks at the height of the holiday shopping season, with high-end electronics left in plain sight. For three days the Ventura County Sheriff's Department watched and waited. No one took the bait. "We really expected sometime in the three days we would have one or more people we would be arresting," Senior Officer Eric Buschow, a detective and spokesman...

5 Good Samaritans Dive Into Pond, Rescue Children In Sinking Minivan Children In Submerged Vehicle For At Least 7 Minutes   POSTED: 3:08 pm EDT October 17, 2007 UPDATED: 12:32 am EDT October 18, 2007  ORLANDO, Fla. -- Five good Samaritans jumped into a retention pond near Walt Disney World and saved two children trapped in a sinking minivan. Florida Highway Patrol troopers said a spare tire on a minivan carrying five people apparently blew out as the vehicle traveled westbound on U.S. Highway 192 Wednesday afternoon. The out-of-control minivan then plunged into the water. Ermarie Otereo, 24, and...

Faith, strong community help Cross Plains residents withstand loss CROSS PLAINS (AP) - The Rev. Jim Senkel has spent the past few days at the charred ruins of First United Methodist Church, helping parishioners pull shards of red, green and purple stained glass, soot-covered forks and chipped coffee mugs from the rubble. Then he has gone across the street where the parsonage once stood, sorting through mounds of ash-coated debris that had been his belongings. The house, where he and his wife moved in June after he became the church's pastor, was filled with new furniture and some Christmas gifts,...

December 18, 2005 2:05 PM Time Persons of 2005: Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono By Claudia Parsons NEW YORK (Reuters) - The richest man in the world, Bill Gates, and his wife, Melinda, were named Time magazine's "Persons of the Year" along with Irish rocker Bono for being "Good Samaritans" who made a difference in different ways. "For being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow, Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono are Time's Persons of the Year," the magazine...

The frantic calls poured in to 911. "Somebody's going to die if this woman doesn't get stopped!" one caller told a dispatcher. While behind the wheel of her 1995 Lincoln sedan a week ago today, Dorothy Beasley, 73, had fallen ill shortly after entering I-465 from a Southside exit. Unable to take her foot off the gas pedal, and driving alone, she careened back and forth in her vehicle while traveling east. Motorists took it upon themselves to create a rolling roadblock behind her. But despite at least a dozen calls to emergency dispatchers, starting just before 11:21 a.m., help...

Article Published: Thursday, May 22, 2003 - 12:00:00 AM MST Disabled man evicted from home of 60 yearsBut neighbor may get him out of jamBy B. Scott Bortnick, Special to The Denver PostEverett Paul Erickson spent 60 years living in the quaint, two-bedroom Cherry Creek home his parents built in the early 1940s. Now the disabled Denver native has been evicted for defaulting on his mortgage. Eviction procedures began Tuesday morning. By nightfall, a lifetime of furnishings, photographs, clothes, pots, pans and assorted items had been removed from the house and heaped in the front yard near East Third...

Some say Samaritans abetting undocumented immigrants 07/15/2002 By BRYN BAILER / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News TUCSON, Ariz. - The undocumented immigrants cross the vast southern Arizona desert at their own peril. The summer heat collects many before they reach their destination. They are warned, yet they still come. And so, members of nine religious groups in the Tucson area have begun patrols in four-wheel-drive vehicles bearing emergency aid. Volunteers with the "Samaritan Patrol" not to be confused with the U.S. Border Patrol, which is keeping a watchful eye on the fledgling group carry water, food and...