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Good Samaritan Hailed As Hero After Stopping Alleged Would-Be Kidnapper Who Dragged Woman Into The Woods
“I threw him down on the ground like three times and then I drug him up to the top of the hill and threw him over the guardrail,” John Bishop would later say of the heated confrontation with the armed suspect, Donald Cramer Jr.
A New Jersey man’s heroic efforts may have saved a woman’s life after he stopped his truck and subdued a man that was seen dragging a woman into the woods along an interstate.
John Bishop, 54, had been heading home from his job at Cooper University Hospital just before 3 p.m. Thursday when he decided to get off Interstate 295 near Mount Laurel, New Jersey to buy some chemicals for his pool, according to The Burlington County Times.
But just as he was getting off the exit ramp, he spotted a struggle in a nearby wooded area.
“When I first saw those arms come out of the bushes, it took a second to register,” he told the local paper.
Bishop stopped his pick up truck, got out of the car, heard the sound of a woman screaming and ran into the woods to intervene.
Bishop confronted the alleged attacker, later identified as 52-year-old Donald Cramer Jr. of Philadelphia, and screamed for him to get off of the woman. A probable cause report would later state that Cramer was armed with a knife and had threatened to kill the woman as he attacked her, NJ.com reports.
Bishop said he even lied and told the man that he had a gun in his back pocket, but the alleged attacker didn’t back down.
“He came up out of the bushes and came at me and grabbed me by the arms,” Bishop later told Philadelphia station WCAU.
The two men began to wrestle each other as the conflict continued to escalate.
“I threw him down on the ground like three times and then I drug him up to the top of the hill and threw him over the guardrail,” Bishop said.
Bishop picked up a stick and used the make-shift weapon to help pin Cramer to the ground as he waited for authorities to arrive at the scene.
Mount Laurel Police officers would soon arrive to arrest Cramer, who is now facing a series of charges including kidnapping, criminal attempted sexual assault, aggravated assault, robbery, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, terroristic threats and criminal restraint.
Cramer is being held at the Burlington County Jail as the New Jersey State Police continue to investigate the incident.
Detectives now believe it may be possible that Cramer could have been involved in other possible sexual assaults and have asked that anyone with additional information contact Det. Craig McCoy of the Bordentown Criminal Investigation Office.
The woman, who had reportedly been walking back to her car after missing her bus stop when she was attacked, suffered non-threatening injuries and was treated at an area hospital.
The New Jersey State Police later acknowledged Bishop’s efforts as a good Samaritan in a written statement about the incident.
“As troopers, we respond to a variety of calls everyday, and there are times when we must place our lives in jeopardy. Citizens are not necessarily held to this standard, but there are also times when good Samaritans step in and risk their lives in order to protect others. This was just the case when John Bishop intervened to save a female victim from an attempted sexual assault,” the statement said.
But while many have praised Bishop for his selfless efforts—he doesn’t seem himself as a hero.
“Most people I know would’ve done the same thing,” he said.
