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| Steve Walker and Omar Gutierrez (CBS Photo) |
Posted: Wednesday, 10 June 2009 9:26AM
$16,000 'tip' for pizza guy crime victim
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CHICAGO (CBS) ―It's a story that demonstrates the kindness of strangers. An Evanston man stepped up to help a pizza delivery man who was attacked outside his window. But he didn't just call 9-1-1. He helped give the victim a second chance at success.
Stephen Walker has been delivering pizzas for 16 years, 10 of them for Papa John's in Evanston. He plans to continue to do his job but that might not have been possible if he hadn't gotten that unexpected help.
Just one week ago, Stephen Walker and Omar Gutierrez were total strangers. Now the unemployed architect has just given the 47-year-old pizza delivery man enough money to get back on his feet after a brutal attack.
"Thank you, God, to everybody that decided to help," Walker said.
Gutierrez was in his office last Tuesday when he looked out the window and saw two suspicious men in the courtyard of the building where he lives on Evanston's Clyde Avenue. Then, he saw Walker walk into the courtyard, too.
"That's when I knew there was going to be trouble," Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez continued to look out his window and saw the two men punch and kick Walker before slowly walking away and stealing his car.
It ended with Walker badly beaten, his crashed car in flames and two men charged with the crime. But this is where the story really begins.
"I just felt the call to do something," Gutierrez said.
So Gutierrez set up a website to help Walker get a new car. In seven days, he's raised:
"$15,009.90."
He's gotten donations from the U.S. and beyond.
"Columbia, Argentina, China," Gutierrez said. "The United States has the most."
And he's given Walker and dozens of others quite a lift.
"If I could help somebody else somewhere, I would," Walker said.
"I just hope that we are able to take care of each other, not only in bad times but every day," Gutierrez said.
When all was said and done Tuesday night, the grand total was just over $16,000. And Omar Gutierrez says he's not taking a dime.
But the man he helped says he wants to pay Gutierrez's phone and Internet bill and wants to take him to lunch - but he wouldn't say if it'd be pizza.
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