Plymouth Rallies Around Autistic Man After Panhandlers Took His Money

Sometimes the worst stories end up having endings that can brighten your day. This is one of those stories.

Plymouth Police have spent the week looking for three men who they allege bullied a man with autism into handing over $150 in cash.

"At one point, they surrounded an autistic male waiting for a ride home," a police spokesperson said. "The males continually pressured the autistic gentleman to give them money. They had him go into his wallet three times, which eventually emptied it."

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After police put up a Facebook post about the incident on Aug. 31, Plymouth residents were outraged and a groundswell of giving began to get Steven Galandzi his money back.

"We would like to speak with them," police wrote about the three men who coerced Steven into handing over his money.

"As a father of an autistic son, I’d like to speak with them as well," wrote Billy Spadafora.

Karen Midttun said that she was interested in making a donation to the victim to help him recover the money he lost. Plymouth Police responded by telling Karen, "We have already taken care of that here at HQ. ... We are going to give the envelope a couple of more days to fill up."

Plymouth town officials lined the parking lot of the Walmart at Colony Place Sept. 6 to show support for the man.

A follow-up post from Plymouth Police read:

When Chief Flynn found out about a young autistic Walmart employee getting robbed for the $150 cash in his wallet…. Pi$$ed off doesn’t even begin to explain.

While the leads the police have received have not yet been enough to nab the suspects, authorities were thrilled to catch up with Steven as he left work. The town manager and Police Chief Dana Flynn showed up with a huge crowd of Plymouth officials and business owners.

Police said with the money that was collected from the business owners and generous people around town, they were able to right the wrong that was done to Steven with "Big. Fat. Envelopes. The kind you used to see on The Sopranos," filled with cash.

The hope was that the outpouring of love and generosity would help Steven understand that there are good people in this world and that the Plymouth community will never stand by and allow him to be bullied.

The people in attendance were Plymouth's town manager; Plymouth Police Chief Dana Flynn and his staff, Patrick McNamara, president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts; State Police Officers; Scott Hokanson, owner of Brabo Insurance; Cabby Brini, owner of the CabbyShack; Doug and Katie Bartlett, owners of Bartlett Funeral Home; Kenny Drew of Nolan Insurance Agency; Kevin Connolly, owner of B&B Auto; Richard Quintal, chair of the Plymouth Select Board and owner of Quintal’s/Squinnys; Selectman Charlie Bletzer, manager of East Bay Grille; Myles Chilchot, manager of Tracy Chevrolet Cadillac; Norm Laviolette, owner of Laugh Boston, The Improv Asylum and the Brockton Rox; and Jimmy Stavropoulous, owner of Anna's Harborside Grill.