Judge gives Burlington County pair 24 hours to turn over donations for homeless man

Carol Comegno | The Courier-Post

MOUNT HOLLY – A judge on Thursday ordered a Burlington couple to turn over all remaining donations made for a homeless Philadelphia man after his good Samaritan act captured widespread media attention last fall.

The relationship between Johnny Bobbitt Jr. and Katelyn McClure and Mark D'Amico turned divisive over the past few months as Bobbitt claimed the couple were keeping the money from him.

In November, Bobbitt was hailed as a hero when he bailed McClure out of a jam along a busy Philadelphia highway.

McClure had run out of fuel on an Interstate 95 exit ramp and Bobbitt stopped to help her, eventually walking several blocks to get gas with his last $20.

McClure had no money to repay the man that day, but returned later with food, cash and gift cards. She and her boyfriend, D'Amico, then created a crowdfunding campaign to help the homeless U.S. Marine and former paramedic.

The GoFundMe campaign ultimately collected more than $400,000 from 14,347 donors.

The law firm of Cozen O'Connor filed a civil lawsuit on Bobbitt's behalf Tuesday, alleging McClure and D'Amico have committed fraud and refused to give him all of the money.

Bobbitt, who is still living on the streets in Philadelphia, also sought the appointment of a court receiver to oversee the fund, but the judge did not appoint one Thursday.

Superior Court Judge Paula T. Dow did issue a temporary restraining order to prevent dissipation of the money. She also ordered the couple to transfer within 24 hours the remainder of the donations to their defense lawyer, who was directed to place it in a trust fund.

Dow said that amount of time is sufficient to withdraw funds out of the bank Friday or Saturday or "to pull it out of pillowcases."

"The court has to be concerned about donations given for philanthropic purposes ... and the number of donors," Dow said.

The judge also cited as cause for the temporary restraining order the likelihood of irreparable harm to Bobbitt because he is homeless and the co-mingling of the GoFundMe donations with the personal funds of the couple.



Neither Bobbitt nor the defendants were in court.

After initially giving Bobbitt some of the money, the lawsuit alleges, the couple has not provided him access to the remainder, has not provided an accounting of the money and has not established a trust fund as promised.

"Plaintiff believes ... the defendants consider the foregoing GoFundMe account as their personal piggy bank to fund a lifestyle they could otherwise not afford," the suit claims.

The couple's attorney Ernest Badway,of Morristown, said Thursday his clients have given Bobbitt more than $200,000 — much more than the $75,000 Bobbitt claims he received.

Because of recent allegations by Bobbitt against the couple, Badway said his clients have received death threats.

"The idea that my clients are the bad guys is completely not true," Babway told the judge, adding that some donors have requested return of their money.

The judge accepted Badway's offer to provide the court by Sept 10 an accounting with documentation of money his clients have given to Bobbitt. The judge made no finding on the issue of whether the couple may have spent some of the money on themselves, saying, "No proof (has been presented) at this time."

In media interviews this year, D'Amico has said the couple bought Bobbitt a camper, but stopped giving the man money because he was buying drugs with it.

The couple has denied misappropriating the money and have said they also tried to help him with his addiction. Bobbitt has admitted he struggles with drug addiction and did use some of the fund money to buy drugs.

Cozen O'Connor lawyer Christopher Fallon, representing Bobbitt free of charge, told the judge his client has "incredible hardships" and "has fallen off the wagon again" and deserves the money raised for him.

He convinced Dow the money is at risk because the defendants admitted in news interviews they co-mingled it in their own account.



"It is an incredible sum ... and when its gone, it's gone," he said.



