Get Roberto back home
Donation protected
Please help bring Roberto Hipolito (age 70) back home to his loving wife, children, grandchildren, and friends in Long Beach, CA as Mr. Hipolito is currently in custody in Minneapolis, MN for an honest and unintentional mistake.
Mr. Hipolito has helped many friends and family members throughout his lifetime. A generous husband, father, and grandfather, Mr. Hipolito is known to lend a helping hand regardless of his own circumstances. Although Mr. Hipolito comes from an impoverished community and at times struggled to provide for his own family of five, he always found ways to support others in need of greater help, including financially supporting relatives in the Philippines with complete education all the way college.
Moreover, decades ago, Mr. Hipolito received an opportunity to escape poverty in the Philippines as a porridge vendor with a crying infant and toddler in tow. He legally came to the United States and obtained his citizenship while employed by Pioneer Entertainment. During the country’s economic crisis, Mr. Hipolito was laid off and unfortunately was never able to find stable employment until he discovered employment as a journeyman.
With this in mind, the economic hardships Mr. Hipolito faced is what led him to the situation at hand in which he and his wife were “camping” at a Walmart parking lot in Minneapolis, MN. Mr. Hipolito had been driving from one state to another state with hopes of landing another job contract.
On the morning of 08/06/2019, Mr. Hipolito decided to cook himself and his wife breakfast using the space in the rear end of his vehicle. Like any responsible adult, Mr. Hipolito turned off his cooking hardware and placed it inside of his van before he entered Walmart.
Mr. Hipolito believed to the best of his knowledge his cookware was cooled and safe to store back into his van. This simple and innocent misjudgment occurrence happens to billions of people everyday around the world. Whether it’s accidentally leaving the stove or oven on, starting a fire while cooking, forgetting to feed their dog, closing the door on someone’s body part, or accidentally injuring oneself - all of these can be classified as accidental acts. While Mr. Hipolito made the best decisions he could that morning with regards to putting his cooking appliances away, Mr. Hipolito had no control over other’s decisions and to whom would be affected when he went into the store, including his disabled wife and two young children who were left alone by their mother in an adjacent vehicle for up to an hour while she went shopping. Mr. Hipolito could not have possibly foreseen how his mistake could leave such an everlasting and permanent damage on innocent children - children who he himself expresses significant grief over. Mr. Hipolito is remorseful for his unintentional actions and would do anything to reverse time.
Mr. Hipolito never intended to or planned to harm anyone. At this time, the justice system and media have been unjust to a hard working citizen who made an honest mistake. Furthermore, various media outlets use words that criminalize Mr. Hipolito before he has even been given a fair trial. Moreover, given the condition that his bail can be reduced on the basis of him surrendering his United States Passport could imply that racial biases are coming into play simply because of Mr. Hipolito’s skin color. Born and raised citizens of the United States all have an opportunity to flee the country and go to neighboring countries such as Canada and Mexico, however, it is not a common negotiation to surrender one’s passport.
Ultimately, Mr. Hipolito can be characterized as George Bailey from the Christmas film “A Wonderful Life” - a man who performed many good deeds for others and asked nothing in return hopes his good deeds return to him in his favor. Now, more than ever, Mr. Hipolito needs our help. Together, we can stand alongside Mr. Hipolito and help him get the fighting chance he needs to face a potentially biased legal system, negative press, and inaccurate media coverage. At this time Mr. Hipolito is in need of a strong legal team to help him navigate the legal system that is considering an extremely harsh charges (i.e. second degree manslaughter and two counts of negligent fire) for an accident that occurred with no malice intent
Therefore, Mr. Hipolito, his family, and his friends graciously request your help in bringing Mr. Hipolito home. Any monetary assistance will be greatly appreciated and will go toward Mr. Hipolito’s legal fees and accomodation to return home. If you are unable to assist financially, please do not hesitate to share this GoFundMe page with others.
Again, thank you all for your support during this difficult time. The Hipolito family will truly and always be grateful.
Mr. Hipolito has helped many friends and family members throughout his lifetime. A generous husband, father, and grandfather, Mr. Hipolito is known to lend a helping hand regardless of his own circumstances. Although Mr. Hipolito comes from an impoverished community and at times struggled to provide for his own family of five, he always found ways to support others in need of greater help, including financially supporting relatives in the Philippines with complete education all the way college.
Moreover, decades ago, Mr. Hipolito received an opportunity to escape poverty in the Philippines as a porridge vendor with a crying infant and toddler in tow. He legally came to the United States and obtained his citizenship while employed by Pioneer Entertainment. During the country’s economic crisis, Mr. Hipolito was laid off and unfortunately was never able to find stable employment until he discovered employment as a journeyman.
With this in mind, the economic hardships Mr. Hipolito faced is what led him to the situation at hand in which he and his wife were “camping” at a Walmart parking lot in Minneapolis, MN. Mr. Hipolito had been driving from one state to another state with hopes of landing another job contract.
On the morning of 08/06/2019, Mr. Hipolito decided to cook himself and his wife breakfast using the space in the rear end of his vehicle. Like any responsible adult, Mr. Hipolito turned off his cooking hardware and placed it inside of his van before he entered Walmart.
Mr. Hipolito believed to the best of his knowledge his cookware was cooled and safe to store back into his van. This simple and innocent misjudgment occurrence happens to billions of people everyday around the world. Whether it’s accidentally leaving the stove or oven on, starting a fire while cooking, forgetting to feed their dog, closing the door on someone’s body part, or accidentally injuring oneself - all of these can be classified as accidental acts. While Mr. Hipolito made the best decisions he could that morning with regards to putting his cooking appliances away, Mr. Hipolito had no control over other’s decisions and to whom would be affected when he went into the store, including his disabled wife and two young children who were left alone by their mother in an adjacent vehicle for up to an hour while she went shopping. Mr. Hipolito could not have possibly foreseen how his mistake could leave such an everlasting and permanent damage on innocent children - children who he himself expresses significant grief over. Mr. Hipolito is remorseful for his unintentional actions and would do anything to reverse time.
Mr. Hipolito never intended to or planned to harm anyone. At this time, the justice system and media have been unjust to a hard working citizen who made an honest mistake. Furthermore, various media outlets use words that criminalize Mr. Hipolito before he has even been given a fair trial. Moreover, given the condition that his bail can be reduced on the basis of him surrendering his United States Passport could imply that racial biases are coming into play simply because of Mr. Hipolito’s skin color. Born and raised citizens of the United States all have an opportunity to flee the country and go to neighboring countries such as Canada and Mexico, however, it is not a common negotiation to surrender one’s passport.
Ultimately, Mr. Hipolito can be characterized as George Bailey from the Christmas film “A Wonderful Life” - a man who performed many good deeds for others and asked nothing in return hopes his good deeds return to him in his favor. Now, more than ever, Mr. Hipolito needs our help. Together, we can stand alongside Mr. Hipolito and help him get the fighting chance he needs to face a potentially biased legal system, negative press, and inaccurate media coverage. At this time Mr. Hipolito is in need of a strong legal team to help him navigate the legal system that is considering an extremely harsh charges (i.e. second degree manslaughter and two counts of negligent fire) for an accident that occurred with no malice intent
Therefore, Mr. Hipolito, his family, and his friends graciously request your help in bringing Mr. Hipolito home. Any monetary assistance will be greatly appreciated and will go toward Mr. Hipolito’s legal fees and accomodation to return home. If you are unable to assist financially, please do not hesitate to share this GoFundMe page with others.
Again, thank you all for your support during this difficult time. The Hipolito family will truly and always be grateful.
Organizer
Athena Sseddogeth
Organizer
