Damn. You try to do some good on the streets, and you find yourself getting punched in the face... Over the weekend in Portland, a guy says he was attacked while trying to help the homeless.Man attacked while trying to help homeless
Tommy Ly and his friends brought food and warm clothes to hand out at a homeless camp under the Morrison Bridge on Saturday night. But at some point in the evening, Ly was attacked while waiting in his car.
According to Ly, a man approached the car, opened the driver's side door and started punching him in the face. Then the assailant tried to drag Ly out of his seat in an apparent attempt to steal the car. Fortunately, he was buckled in, and wasn't going out like that -- he was able to drive off and get the hell out of there.
"He tried to pull me out of the car, so I'm guessing he was trying to steal the car," Ly said. "If he just wanted my phone or my iPad or something, I would give it to him. My friend was screaming, ‘We are just trying to pass out food to the homeless, don't do this!'"So it's possible that Tommy actually ran over a dude while getting away. I'm sure this was not the night he and his friends were expecting when they set out with that food and clothing. Turns out these Good Samaritans were in need of some Good Samaritans themselves -- the three people in the area who stopped to help pull the attacker away from him.
Ly said the car seat belt helped keep him in the car. He was eventually able to drive off and call 911. Ly thought he might have hit the attacker with his car during the getaway.
"I heard a bang, I didn't know what happened," he said. "I heard some screaming. I didn't really have time to stop and notice."
Hopefully this won't deter Tommy and his crew from their efforts to help out the homeless.