James Robertson - whose story inspired people to donate over $350,000 and a new Ford Taurus — moved Tuesday to a temporary residence with the help of police over concerns that his newfound wealth might make him the target of criminals.
Recent news reports about the death of a Detroit man believed murdered after winning $20,000 in the lottery pointed to a possible dark side to his newfound wealth. Robertson confided in a friend that others in his boarding house had threatened him for the money and that a friend in turn contacted the police.
— Alexzandra (@AlexzMack) February 3, 2015
"We had a meeting with him (and) he expressed interest that he did not feel safe," Detroit police Capt. Aric Tosqui told the Detroit Free Press.
In response to those concerns, the police reached out to a local businessman to ask about temporary accommodations, free of charge, for Robertson. They helped him move quickly to a location he was more comfortable in.
"There's people in the community who were sympathetic," said Tosqui.
A Car of One's Own
The money raised via a GoFundMe page is not yet in Robertson’s possession, but he does already have the donated Taurus — worth $35,000 — which the police have allowed him to park in their lot temporarily.
— Corpus Mhixxy (@jinxiejinxx32) February 6, 2015
Robertson is searching for a more permanent place to live, hopefully closer to his work, and possibly in neighboring Oakland County.
"Don't get me wrong. It'll be hard to leave the city that I love," he said of the idea of moving out of Detroit.
But there was an element of relief in leaving the boarding house where he’d been living for 15 years, most recently paying $220 a week. The landlord was reportedly a long-time girlfriend but "the issue was, she liked to control everyone and everything."
UBS banker Blake Pollock, the friend who had arranged the police meeting, said Robertson accepted the offer of the temporary apartment right away, and the move went smoothly. "They had four officers talking to him, warning him about his situation, (and then) five officers with garbage bags went to his house."
Robertson found himself the unexpected object of online generosity when a story about his gruelling daily commute gained widespread media attention. That attention turned to support when a GoFundMe page was set up for him by Evan Leedy, a 19-year-old student at Macomb Community College, who came across the story about Robertson in the Detroit Free Press.
“What he walks is like me walking to work every day and I honestly couldn’t believe that,” Leedy told ABC News about why he started the page. “I thought to myself, ‘What would I do if my car broke down?,’ and I thought, ‘I have my parents and I have money to get an Uber.’"
Leedy is set to meet with Robertson and financial advisers in the next week to discuss how best to manage Robertson’s unexpected windfall.
