This past Sunday, (October 2nd) my brother Luke was assaulted at gunpoint when they hijacked his car and stole his phone. We are thankful Luke survived such a horrendous assault but Luke requires financial assistance during this time and could use our help.

Luke, who works at Jimmy Johns, was driving back from delivery when his tire became flat, and he had to pull to the side of the road. When he went out to inspect his car, four young adults were gracious enough to offer to help Luke put on his spare. In light of their generosity, my innocent and kind-hearted brother then agreed to give the four guys a ride to where they needed to go as it was late in the night.

The four young men got in the car and as Luke was driving them to their destination, the young man right behind Luke kept asking Luke questions about the car:

“Does your car need to be plugged in to be charged?”

“How much gas does it have?”

Because my brother is on the autism spectrum, he did not pick up that these questions could have had alternative meanings and the social layers beyond them. Instead, Luke thought they would share his fascination with the car’s mechanics and eco-friendliness...they did not.

Once they arrived at their destination, the young man behind Luke’s seat pulled a gun to Luke’s head and demanded that Luke got out of the car.

My brother was only trying to give back to these young men to thank them for helping him and was in utter shock with the situation and responded with:

“I’m just trying to help.”

The man behind Luke then took the gun and viciously assaulted Luke from the backseat, pistol-whipping the handle of the gun forcefully into Lukes's face; breaking his front teeth.

After being assaulted, Luke ran in fear of being shot and the young men proceeded to drive away with his car and phone; which is Lukes's whole livelihood. Luke managed to make his way to a nearby assisted living home where they then called the police for him.

Officers spotted the stolen vehicle and tried to stop it. The driver didn’t stop and led police on a chase, which ended when the suspect hit multiple street signs; leaving Luke’s car severely damaged. The driver ran away and was caught after a brief chase with one of the other passengers staying with the car, with the two other young men at large. Both suspects were taken into custody and a gun was found on the scene.

Luke denied medical treatment Sunday night in lieu of dental treatment as soon as possible. Early Monday morning our dad rushed Luke to the dentist for emergency care where Luke received extensive dental treatment, including x-rays, pushing one tooth back in place, placement of a stint to keep a tooth in place, and shaving two teeth down to lessen discomfort and allow his mouth to close,

Luke will be foregoing more procedures in the future to ensure that his teeth don’t get infected and that they will be fully repaired.

If you know Luke, you know what a giving and innocent person he is. He sees the best in everyone and always gives people the benefit of the doubt.

You can see Luke’s values in action through his environmental mindset in how he forages for his food to not waste goods and how he donates back to homeless shelters when he finds salvageable goods.

My brother is not a materialistic person and strives to save every penny of his paycheck from Jimmy John's to go into savings but this is a monumental cost that even the best penny pincher would need help to overcome.

With the loss of his car, and cellphone and needing to pay his insurance deductibles, Luke is in dire need of our support during this time. Even in writing this, Luke is making sure that I am not over asking for money and if you know him you are probably smiling at that.

In that Luke’s job requires him to make calls and deliveries, he is struggling to imagine how he will get back to work (once he has physically and mentally recovered) without a phone or car. An added blow to this situation is that Luke recently purchased his used Prius this past year ($5,000) and already needs to buy a new car.

Although Jimmy Johns is giving Luke workers comp; which consists of Luke receiving ⅔ of his hourly wages (~$9hr), a substantial amount of Luke's income comes from tips which will not be compensated for.

During this time Luke will be focusing on his physical and mental health and will lean into his passion for computer programming and 3D modeling. Though Jimmy Johns pays for Luke’s expenses, Luke’s true passion lies in gaming, design, and creation. Knowing that he will be resting from home for some time, as needed, I am excited as his sister to see how his game develops during this time.

Help my brother in the same spirit he would help others.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Luke and our whole family greatly appreciate each one of you. Thank you.

***Note: If you need/want to contact Luke, his preferred method is Facebook as he currently does not have a phone**

News stories regarding Luke’s Story:

Fox 8 News Story

WXII 12 News Story