Got to take care of your fellow man, say elderly heroes
Published: March 6, 2007
Donald Wilson said that when ordinary people are placed in extraordinary situations, they are often capable of the impossible. On Friday night, the man who tried to rob the 74-year-old Wilson, his 75-year-old wife and the couple’s 70-year-old companion learned that lesson the hard way.
Wilson and his wife Thelma Wilson were among a group of a few dozen senior citizens enjoying a late night snack at a local Cracker Barrel following their regular Friday night dance club meeting.
As they were leaving the restaurant to get into their cars, a man suddenly approached Thelma Wilson and Jean Wright and allegedly attempted to rob them.
That man, Eddie Charles Vanderpool, 41, struck Wright down, and then turned to Donald Wilson and knocked him unconscious, according to testimony from the victims.
But right at that moment, two more members of the group, 77-year-old Herbert Crowson and 72-year-old Dennis Orman, saw that their friends were in danger and immediately intervened, taking hold of Vanderpool and slamming him up against the car.
Along with the help of Wilson – who quickly regained consciousness – the men were able to subdue a struggling Vanderpool until police arrived to arrest him.
The testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and Wright was enough for General Sessions Judge Dan Eisenstein on Wednesday to bind Vanderpool’s case over to a grand jury.
Vanderpool is being held in jail in lieu of $550,000 bond. According to Metro Police, he has 89 prior criminal arrests over a 23-year period.
But while Vanderpool’s criminal history is a serious cause of concern among police, authorities made it clear that the heroic actions of the senior citizens were cause for admiration.
Neither Crowson nor Orman testified at Wednesday’s hearing. But after the hearing, Don Wilson said he came to as Crowson was picking him up with one hand and holding Vanderpool against a car with his other.
He said he was amazed that such a small man was capable of such an act. Wilson attributed it to the adrenaline rush that is often associated with having to act in the face of danger.
“If he had to do it again right now, I doubt he could,” Wilson said.
As for why the two took such action, Orman said simply, “You’ve got to take care of your fellow man.”
Not only did the three men prevent a robbery, they also prevented their assailant from getting away, according to their testimony.
“He struggled there for a while. He tried hard to get away,” Wilson told Vanderpool’s public defender Glenn Dukes.
“Then he made an unusual request,” Wilson continued. “He said turn me loose or get me out of my misery.”
“Did that strike you as a statement made b a man at the end of his rope?” Dukes asked. Vanderpool told police he is homeless, and Dukes reminded the court of his client’s history of drug and alcohol problems.
“I have feelings for the man,” Wilson responded. “I really do. I don’t want to see him on the street next week. But I feel for him.”
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