BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ (RNN) – Lawyers for a homeless man have taken legal action against a couple who raised more than $400,000 to help him get back on his feet.
Johnny Bobbitt’s attorneys filed a lawsuit against Mark D’Amico and Kate McClure Tuesday, saying the couple used the "substantial portions of the money raised," through a GoFundMe campaign as their "personal piggy bank," instead of putting the money toward helping him, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Among other things, the suit seeks monetary damages, counsel fees and a "guardian at litem," assigned to Bobbitt. The guardian is a person appointed by a court to investigate the best interests of a child or an adult who cannot represent themselves.
Bobbitt told the Inquirer last week that he believed the couple may have mismanaged the money and refused to show him financial records.
The couple had pledged to buy him a house, truck, computer and new clothes, among other things.
The truck and a camper came but many of the other promises were void, Bobbitt said to the paper.
Bobbitt admitted using some of the money the couple did give him to buy a "small amount" of drugs, according to the Inquirer.
The couple also began rationing the money to him but would not disclose how much money remained in the fund.
Bobbitt gained national notoriety last year after he helped McClure who was stranded on a New Jersey exit ramp.
Bobbitt was panhandling in the area and used his last $20 to help the woman.
More than 14,000 people contributed $402,706 to the GoFundMe campaign McClure started as a way of "paying it forward."
Bobbitt has been living in the camper and told the paper he still struggles with addiction.
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