ORLANDO, Fla. – After a man in a wheelchair had $700 snatched from his hand this week a good Samaritan stepped forward to help him pay his rent.
Minutes after News 6's story aired Thursday a viewer, who asked to remain anonymous, called and said she wanted to donate $500 to the victim, 71-year-old Nick Cupo.
News 6 reporter Nadeen Yanes helped facilitate a phone call between Cupo and the donor and now a check is in the mail, just in time to help Cupo pay his July rent.
Cupo said he had tears in his eyes when she offered to help. The two spoke on the phone and quickly became friends.
"To have somebody do that it was just (so) emotional, it was more than I could handle at the time," Cupo said.
When News 6 called Cupo and told him the news he was floored.
For Cupo, who lives on a fixed income, the anonymous donation means that he won't have to struggle to pay double rent next month or leave his bills unpaid.
“I have never seen anybody get so many results so fast in my life," Cupo said of News 6. "I mean as far as I'm concerned there is only one news channel in Orlando and that's yours.”
Cupo, told Orange County deputies that he went up to the Orlando ATM machine around 10 a.m. Wednesday and withdrew his money to pay his rent. As he was about to place the money in his pocket, the suspect Luis Viera, 55, grab his hand from behind, according to the arrest report.
Viera squeezed Cupo’s hand until he released the money, the report said.
Viera was arrested later on Wednesday, but deputies said he only had $100 by the time he was found.