Culture: A 15-Year-Old Hero Stops Carjacker
Ever since the pandemic hit, carjacking and car thefts have plagued many cities around the country.
Most of the time, these are tragic stories that don’t have a good ending. But when a man tried to carjack a 65-year-old woman at a grocery store, he was confronted by a brave 15-year-old hero.
What kind of high schooler would step in and stop a carjacking, in this day and age? Meet Andrew Papp, the hero of our story.
Tampa Bay’s Fox 13 reports:
“Fifteen-year-old Andrew Papp is a hero, but the sophomore at Riverview High School hardly said a word about it in school. His principal, Brian Spiro, told Andrew’s Junior ROTC class how he saved a woman as others stood and watched. Andrew saw that as an opportunity to step in and protect her, and he did so decisively,” Spiro said.”
Andrew didn’t pause for an instant when he dashed across a supermarket parking lot to save the woman from a violent carjacker.
“He told me to give him my keys, and I said no and turned away from him, and he was still all over me,” 65-year-old Billie Richert told FOX 13 News shortly after the attack. “It’s just the right thing to do,” he said. “I mean that could be someone’s mom, someone’s aunt. Like if that was my mom, and someone did that to my mom, and he got away, that’s just like, that’s terrible.”
Richert was able to thank Andrew later through a FaceTime exchange.
Richert told him, “I want to thank you for helping me when I needed help. Your mama raised a good boy.”
The suspect was 42-year-old Robert Moore, who was charged with robbery and battery on a victim over 65.
