Police are praising a good Samaritan who thwarted an attempted sexual assault along a New Jersey highway last week.
Motorist John Bishop spotted a disturbance on the side of I-295 near Mount Holly at about 3 p.m.. He told police he saw Donald Cramer Jr., 52, of Philadelphia grab a woman and drag her into a nearby wooded area. Bishop pulled over once he realized what he’d seen and ran to stop an attempted sexual assault. He pulled his truck over, threw it in reverse, and his plans to buy pool supplies were put on hold.
“When I first saw those arms come out of the bushes, it took a second to register,” Bishop told the Burlington County Times.
Bishop said he saw a man and a woman struggling in the woods, and pulled Cramer off of the woman. Cramer came at him and tried to wrestle him to the ground.
“I told him I had a gun in back pocket — I didn’t — and he didn’t even listen,” Bishop said.
Cramer also brandished a knife and threatened to kill the woman, according to NJ.com.
He was able to keep Cramer at the scene until troopers arrived and took him into custody.
“I wanted to get him up near the road, so I drug him by the arm and neck up the hill and threw him over the guardrail onto Route 73,” Bishop, of Burlington Township, told the newspaper.
Mount Laurel Police Department charged Cramer with kidnapping, criminal attempted sexual assault, aggravated assault, and related offenses.
State Police officials praised Bishop for his quick thinking and heroic reaction.
“As troopers, we respond to a variety of calls every day, and there are times when we must place our lives in jeopardy,” state police said in a statement. “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.”
