That Go Fund Me for the guy who gave the woman his last $20?

[cyclonefence]

All a fake. Not just what happened to the money, the whole story of Johnny Bobbitt, homeless and drug-addicted, helping out a young woman who ran out of gas in a bad neighborhood by giving her his last $20.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

It began like a scene from an urban fairy tale, a perfect, intriguing blend of fear and reassurance. A pretty blond woman, alone late at night, stuck in a car that sputtered to a stop in an unfamiliar neighborhood, approached in the darkness by a haunted face in tattered clothes.

No, Johnny Bobbitt Jr. meant no harm, he would later say. The homeless veteran materialized — out of thin air, it seemed — and offered to use the last $20 in his pocket to buy gas for the stranded Kate McClure, to get her away from an I-95 exit ramp in Port Richmond and back to the arms of her square-jawed boyfriend, Mark D'Amico, in their Burlington County home.



So when McClure and D'Amico created a GoFundMe campaign with the intention of raising a modest $10,000 to help get Bobbitt off the streets, the response was immediate and overwhelming. Whether it was because people felt extra-generous around the holidays, or because they wanted to have a connection to a feel-good story, more than 14,000 donors contributed $402,706 to the account in just one month.

Bobbitt's selfless act, and McClure's and D'Amico's well-intentioned response, made them instant celebrities, the subjects of front-page headlines and sought-after guests for Good Morning America and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

And it was all a lie.

Every word of it, from the very beginning.

More: http://www2.philly.com/philly/news/homeless-gofundme-scam-kate-mcclure-johnny-bobitt-jr-mark-damico-arrests-charges-20181115.html

[KansasKali]

1. The guy has a Richard Spencer type haircut.

Is that couple alt-right?

[Blue_true]

4. Would not surprise me. Good people don't do stuff like that.

I have given to personal story GoFundMe campaigns before, but will likely give to only established organizations like the Red Cross or the Salvation Army.

[Blue_Tires]

2. So they were *ALL* in on it?!?

I always thought it was one party trying to scam the other...

[Blue_true]

5. It seemed that the couple double-crossed the guy and he sued.

Trully sad, now real and honest people who desperately need crowdfunding will suffer.

[cyclonefence]

6. No, the poor guy was in on it, too, from the beginning

Read the whole story at the link.

[Blue_true]

8. A few months ago, the couple spent all the money and didn't give him his share.

He sued them in court. That was a seperate issue than he was in on it, that is the point that I was making.

[cyclonefence]

9. Here's what really happened

from the link:

Bobbitt, 35, a former ammunition technician in the Marines, whose battle with drug addiction led to his discharge from the military, drifted from Raleigh, N.C., to Montana before he arrived in the Philadelphia area about two years ago.

At some point, he crossed paths with D'Amico, a 39-year-old admitted gambling addict, and McClure at the SugarHouse casino in Fishtown. The couple grew friendly with Bobbitt — fascinated, even.



They tossed around a number of ways they could help Bobbitt. Maybe they could provide him with food, clothes, and a Nintendo Switch, or help him land a job and find a house. They'd already made a small gesture, giving him $10.

In the weeks that followed, they dreamed up something grander.

Around dinnertime on Nov. 10, D'Amico took a grainy photo of McClure and Bobbitt at the highway exit ramp where he'd supposedly come to her aid. McClure smiled in the image while Bobbitt stared blankly, his face covered by a wispy beard and dark hood.

Within an hour, McClure launched the GoFundMe campaign, which featured the photo of her and Bobbitt, and recounted their unlikely Good Samaritan encounter. She gave the fundraiser a simple title — "Paying It Forward" — and shared it on social media.

Almost immediately, McClure was contacted by a close friend, who was incredulous: Why hadn't McClure told her she'd run out of gas in Port Richmond?

"Okay so wait the gas part is completely made up," McClure wrote back in a text message, according to an affidavit of probable cause for her arrest. "I had to make something up to make people feel bad … So, shush about the made up part."

Jim Gerrow Jr., McClure's attorney, said Thursday the evidence would show that "Kate only had the best intentions," and that D'Amico and Bobbitt had concocted the plan. Attorneys for D'Amico and Bobbitt could not be reached for comment.
-------more at the link---

Bobbitt did sue them, and they did take most of the money, but Bobbitt was in on it from the beginning as a way to defraud the public. All three of them have been arrested. Bobbitt is not the poor mistreated innocent everyone thought he was.

[LisaL]

12. The homeless guy was actually homeless, veteran and drug addicted.

So I would argue that he did need help, whether he gave her his last $20 or not?

[cyclonefence]

7. Yep--all three of them

The full story is at the link.

[NoMoreRepugs]

3. Grifters gotta grift, Cons gotta con.

Orange Anuses gotta... hell, I don't know.

[peekaloo]

10. The kind of dumb criminals the Coen Brothers love to satirize.

Only they would all end up dead.

[cyclonefence]

11. You're right!

This even has hints of "Fargo" about it. I hope they hear about this news story.