Aaron Brantley (pictured), an 86-year-old African-American World War II veteran, is resting in Detroit, after a daylight carjacking attack left him with a broken leg. What’s worse? As Brantley writhed in pain, people walked by and ignored the elderly man, reports the Detroit Free Press.
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Brantley, a retired Chrysler plant worker and Air Corps veteran, was pumping gas into his new car at a BP gas station near the University of Detroit Mercy campus after leaving a morning Bible study session last Wednesday.
According to Brantley, all of a sudden, he was pushed to the ground from behind and robbed of his new Chrysler sedan, a replacement for a previously stolen vehicle. The fall broke Brantley’s leg, forcing the octogenarian to crawl across the gas station’s lot until an attendant helped him.
“I noticed when I was crawling to the gas station, people were walking past me like I wasn’t there,” Brantley said. “I said, Lord, have mercy. I said, Lord, some of them didn’t even look around, just going to get their gas.”
Authorities were alerted but were late in arriving to the scene, so a customer drove Brantley home. Ambulances met Brantley at his residence and took him to a nearby hospital for treatment. Hours later, a man found Brantley’s car and Bible, which had his phone number inscribed on the inside. The car was left abandoned on the city’s East Side, missing its wheels and radio.
Even though his children have urged him to move from his beloved city, Brantley has refused.
“I never bothered anybody, and I always try to help somebody else when I could,” said Brantley, in stark contrast to what happened to him on Detroit’s West Side.
So this is what things have come to: robbing the elderly in broad daylight? While it is admirable that Brantley loves his city, it seems wiser to reconsider a move.
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