What at first began as a good Samaritan trying to help out a fellow community member quickly evolved into a scary altercation for one Lubbock father Sunday night.
John Easttom came across a post on Facebook of a woman hoping to sell a $107 gift card to Home Depot for $55 minimum.
Easttom said he recognized the woman from an instance months prior when she had posted on Facebook that she was looking for a hot meal for her family. Easttom had someone pick up a plate and deliver it to her, and said he was happy to be able to help a second time.
“Because that’s how a community runs, is by people helping each other,” said Easttom. “I figured it was a good opportunity to help someone out who needed cash.”
Both the woman and Easttom had agreed to meet at the Home Depot at the 2600 block of 50th street so that Easttom would be able to also check that the card worked properly.
By the time both parties arrived, the store had already closed, Easttom suggested meeting the next morning instead. That’s when Easttom says the woman and the two men she had come with became agitated.
Easttom, who had brought his two sons with him, ages 5 and 7, tried to drive away.
“We weren’t able to check the balance, I asked them to meet me the next day, they got upset and started cursing. So I left, I tried to leave, because I didn’t want my boys to be around that kind of language, and as I was leaving I noticed in my rear view mirror that they were following behind me.”
Easttom said once he realized the group was planning to follow him out, he pulled back into the Home Depot parking lot where there was lighting and hopefully surveillance cameras.
The other car pulled right in front of Easttom’s blocking it, that’s when Easttom decided to exit his vehicle. A man in the backseat of the other car reached for a gun and pointed it at Easttom, who was armed with only a handheld tazer. Easttom’s two children were still in the car.
“I had to have my boys down on the floorboard not knowing what was going to happen.”
Shortly after, the group of three decided to leave the scene, leaving Easttom unharmed. His children however, remain shaken up by the ordeal.
“They don’t want to talk about it. I’ve tried asking them. They wouldn’t go to sleep last night. I tried several times after midnight and they said they didn’t want to go to sleep because they were afraid the bad people were going to get them, that they were going to find them.”
Easttom took to Facebook to warn others about what had happened and that the woman may be potentially trying to scam people. He says he received several messages and comments affirming that he was not the first person this had happened to.
Easttom says while the incident is scarring, he wants to continue to be able to help others when he can, but hopes others can learn from his mistake.
“I’m still going to continue to help people that’s how me and my family are,” said Easttom. “I would just look over their profile, see if theres any red flags, if there’s anything that doesn’t sit right in a normal community, and always meet in a public place. And make sure the place has cameras.”
Easttom has made no further contact with the woman. No arrests have been made yet. Easttom has described the car that the group of three were riding in as a dark colored coupe, possibly a Saturn.
If you have any information that may be helpful to police, you’re encouraged to call Crimeline at 741-1000.
