When news about James Robertson, the Detroit man who walked 21 miles a day just to get to and from work surfaced, an outpouring of kindness gave him $350,000 worth of donations and a brand new car.
But Robertson's lucky break has only proven detrimental to his safety, since the hard-working man has just sought the help of police to move him to a safer location, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The Detroit crime-prevention specialists have just moved Robertson, 56, to temporary living quarters, Detroit police Capt. Aric Tosqui said.
"We had a meeting with him and he expressed interest that he did not feel safe," said Tosqui. "He's a diamond in the rough in terms of what happened to him."
Strangers have reportedly started coming up to Robertson and asking for cash, according to the police. But Robertson has not received any of the funds raised for him in GoFundMe.com since the page creator, student Evan Leedy will be meeting with him next week in order to help Robertson manage the money wisely.
Robertson became alarmed when Detroit police last week arrested a man who killed an 86-year-old man, only three days after the elderly victim won $20,000 in a lottery game.
"He knew about that story, and I also know about an incident in the 1st Precinct where a gentleman was killed after he allegedly won some money," Tosqui said. "In those two examples, no one approached the department. But if somebody won the lottery tomorrow and contacted us, we would look at the situation in the same way and see what we could do."
For his part, Robertson reportedly felt relieved when police helped him move as he wanted to get away from his landlady - also his girlfriend - because "the issue was, she liked to control everyone and everything."
"I wanted to get it over with — there were so many factors involved," he said.
