Good Samaritan stops to help crash victim; gets carjacked

He was tired from work and ready to be home. But when Gustavo Carmona saw a BMW crash into the median on Ga. 400, he didn’t think twice about stopping to help.

Now, he says he’s been unable to sleep after what happened next.

“I was trying to help and he put a gun to my head,” Carmona told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday. “He was trying to kill me.”

Carmona was acting as a Good Samaritan when he stopped to help a crash victim around 2:20 a.m. Thursday, according to a Sandy Springs Police report. But the man who crashed immediately pulled a gun on Carmona, who had a friend with him. Then, the man took Carmona’s van, leaving Carmona and his friend, Mario Velez, stranded on Ga. 400.

Carmona called police, who found two semi-automatic weapons, a machete, ammunition and a gun bag in the wrecked car, the police report states. Officers gave Carmona and Velez a ride home, but the two were too shaken to sleep, Carmona said.

“I can’t sleep because he was trying to kill me,” Carmona said.

Investigators found Carmona’s van undamaged on Friday in Gwinnett County and returned it to him. But so far, he hasn’t heard whether police have found the carjacking suspect. In the meantime, Carmona said he probably won’t be a Good Samaritan again.

“Next time, I’m not going to try and help,” Carmona said.