Danger can come from anywhere, but so does help.
It can be frightening just thinking that any one of us could find ourselves in danger. These situations don’t even choose a time or place. We can be attacked at home, at school, at work, or when we’re out with friends.
For a Boston woman, this nightmare became an unwelcome reality when she was attacked in a store parking lot. Alone and afraid, all she could do was scream for help. Fortunately, one courageous bystander chose not to leave violence unchecked.
Jay Sarcione heard the screams across the store parking lot.
“I heard her: help, help! She was screaming for help,” Jay Sarcione told WBZ-TV.
Sarcione was in his vehicle when he was alerted by the calls for help. Others might have gone back to their business to avoid danger, but not Sarcione. He jumped out of his snowplow and ran to where the screams were coming from.
From a distance, he saw a woman being attacked in her car.
He could make out the figure of a woman struggling to defend herself. The situation only became clearer when the light inside the car went on.
“It looked like someone was in a struggle. But then I started hearing the horn and the light went on inside the car, like the visor light, and I could see the woman, she was getting choked pretty hard and strong and she was getting pushed into the passenger seat,” he recalled to the news outlet.
Seeing Sarcione headed towards the car, the suspect ran off.
Sarcione didn’t stop there, however. She asked the woman to call for the police as he bolted after the man.
But things became dangerous for him as well.
He was steadily catching up to the suspect but the man turned around. From where Sarcione was, he saw that the man moved his hand towards his waist. Afraid that he was about to pull a gun, Sarcione started slowing down.
Fortunately for Sarcione, the cops arrived just in time.
They identified the suspect as 53-year-old Rafael Rosario. They found him lying on the snow along the fence of a property on a nearby street. He was arrested shortly thereafter.
Rosario was charged with strangulation, attempted kidnapping, attempted carjacking, and assault and battery. The judge also found probable cause that Rosario may have violated his probation for larceny and assault and battery.
Meanwhile, Yvonne Lesko, the victim, was finally safe.
She recalled to the police that Rosario forced his way into her car then grabbed her by the throat. He also tried to push her further into the car, seemingly planning to carjack the vehicle as well.
It was at that moment that Sarcione sprang into action like a superhero.
The local police commended the “Good Samaritan” but also shared a piece of advice to citizens.
“I would like to commend the brave citizen who witnessed this incident and sprang into action to help,” said Methuen Police Chief Joseph Solomon as quoted by WCVB. “However, chasing after a suspect is something that can be extremely dangerous, and we ask all residents that find themselves in an emergency to call 911 and let our officers take over from there.”
Many people agree that Jay Sarcione truly was a hero for stepping in. One person wrote on YouTube:
“This is so refreshing to watch after seeing some videos where people did nothing. Faith in humanity: +25”
Another commented:
“HUMBLE BRAVE HERO HANDSOME!”
Watch the video below to hear brave Jay talk about what happened that night. Thank goodness he was there!
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