Positive story for a change.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/buf...saving-several-lives
A man who police are calling 'Merry Christmas Jay' broke into a Buffalo-area school and brought several people inside to shelter them from the storm

Published December 29, 2022 10:19pm EST

By Paul Best | Fox News


Police are searching for a man who broke into a Buffalo-area school on Dec. 23 – not to charge him with any crimes, but to thank him for his selfless actions that likely saved several lives and two dogs during last week's brutal winter storm.

The man, who police are calling "Merry Christmas Jay," left a note explaining that he broke a window on Friday evening so that he could bring several people inside Pine Hill School in the Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga.

"I'm terribly sorry about breaking the school window [and] for breaking in the kitchen," the note reads.

"Got stuck at 8 p.m. Friday and slept in my truck with two strangers. Just trying not to die. There were 7 elderly people also stuck and out of fuel. I had to do it to save everyone and get them shelter and food and a bathroom."




A keyholder at the school had received an alarm about a break-in on Friday evening, but police couldn't immediately respond due to the deteriorating weather.

When an officer eventually made it to the school later that weekend, he found the note from "Merry Christmas Jay."

When the Cheektowaga Police Department pulled surveillance footage from inside the school, they "witnessed people taking care of people."

"There was a freezer full of food but no one touched it. They only ate what was necessary to stay alive. They used the gym for the kids to play and pulled the smart boards out of the classrooms to watch the news for updates," the Cheektowaga Police Department said.

"They had 2 dogs they were also attending to. When they were finally able to leave safely, you never would have known anyone was there."

At least 39 people died from the winter storm, which pounded Buffalo on Friday and Saturday.

The National Guard was going door to door in New York's second-largest city on Thursday and officials warned that more bodies could be found.

Well done, Jay.

You da man Jay.... people are alive because one man thought to do something about the situation and live....

Great work on Jay's part. Thanks for posting the story.

yeah, good job. But would not trust that they want to thank him rather than arrest him. No thanks.

It is New York so yes, let no good deed go unpunished.

Gotta do what you gotta do.

But yeah, I'd choose to stay anonymous if I could.

Some more info behind why the guy had to stay at the school.

quote:

A Buffalo man is being hailed as a hero after saving 24 people during last week’s brutal snowstorm that dumped up to 50.3 inches in western New York.

Jay Withey’s truck got stuck on the road and he was forced to sleep in his vehicle with two strangers.

“I walked to the houses to see if I could find shelter, any house that had lights on. I had $500 that I was offering, to sleep on their floor,” Withey told WBEN.

After being turned down by everyone, he walked back to his truck defeated and with a new fear he had never experienced.

“It’s the only time in my life I actually thought I was going to die.”

Around 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve, and after taking turns running the engine and napping, Withey’s truck ran out of gas and the trio was forced to find proper shelter.

“Off to the left, I could see there was a school about 600, 700 feet away from us. I knew the power would be on, there would be heat in there and I was guaranteeing there would be food in there,” Withey told the station.

https://nypost.com/2022/12/30/...ple-in-winter-storm/

I guess no one stayed until the police got there?

Good going on Jay's part.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Positive story for a change.

Yes, but as usual, some people cannot simply accept it at that.
To reiterate the question: What is it like to live life while finding some possible negative, however unlikely, in every story like this?
Ho-lee chit! It must be horrible and I can only pity you.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...0601935/m/6940091294

Beautiful story. The second link posted by lkdr1989 makes the final outcome even more heartwarming.

I like the part where :"When they were finally able to leave safely, you never would have known anyone was there."

The cops must have missed this article, or there must be some disconnect somewhere, because this fellow was highlighted in a WSJ article two days ago.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/t...lo-storm-11672318815

The Impossible Decisions That Faced Those Trapped in the Buffalo Blizzard

Jay Withey, a 27-year-old me­chanic, said he headed into Buf­falo on Fri­day af­ter­noon af­ter a friend called to tell him he was stuck in the snow and needed help. …. As dawn ap­proached and his fuel lev­els were drop­ping, Mr. Withey trudged over to a nearby Chevy Equinox half-buried in snow and knocked on the dri­ver’s win­dow. An­to­nio DeAmil­lio, 55, was sit­ting in­side. He had got­ten stuck dri­ving to meet his wife at her work. Mr. DeAmil­lio, an of­fi­cer for the De­part­ment of Home­land Se­cu­rity, was also run­ning out of gas and con­sid­er-ing his op­tions. …. The two trudged through waist-deep snow to a nearby school. With a set of brake pads from his truck, Mr. Withey smashed a win­dow and they climbed in, both men said. The men brought Ms. Ross to the school. They knocked on the win­dows of nearby cars and helped shep­herd oth­ers to the school.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

Positive story for a change.

Yes, but as usual, some people cannot simply accept it at that.
To reiterate the question: What is it like to live life while finding some possible negative, however unlikely, in every story like this?
Ho-lee chit! It must be horrible and I can only pity you. Quote.

Sure sigf. equally, must be horrible to feel the need to troll others here all the time to show how superior you are and how your intelligence puts others to shame. Glad you are damn near perfect brother.
I don't think anyone here needs your pity btw

Fair point, someone has turned the thread negative.

An absolute defense in law is necessity, die or break into the shelter, given the conditions if the AG or DA tries to prosecute him, he has lock solid defense.