So much for gratitude.
James Scarabino was driving along New York’s Long Island Expressway early Thursday when he stopped to help a motorist stranded on the side of the road near a wrecked 2007 Chevrolet Corvette.
The motorist came around, pushed Scarabino out of the driver’s seat and then drove off in his 1994 Chrysler LHS, police said.
Scarabino, 30, said he tried to stop the man and was dragged a short distance. He was not injured.
“Obviously I thought, ’What am I doing? This isn’t worth it.’ And I let go,” Scarabino said. “I hope the police catch him, and I hope he gets what he deserves.”
Before the carjacking, the man in the Corvette had been speeding on the highway when it rear-ended another car, injuring two occupants, Suffolk County police said. He fled that scene and later lost control of the Corvette and flipped it. That’s when Scarabino noticed the crash.
Scarabino’s car was recovered later Thursday, abandoned at a gas station. The carjacker was still at large.
Scarabino said the incident won’t keep him from helping people.
“If something happened to my wife and kids, God forbid, I’d hope someone would stop. If I see something, I’m gonna stop,” he said.