and ; ‘I had to do it to save everyone’: Man breaks into school and shelters more than 20 people from blizzard
"‘I had to do it to save everyone’
Withey, who describes himself as a religious man, said he views the whole ordeal as a blessing in disguise. If just one person had taken him up on his plea for shelter that night, he would not have saved all those people, he said.
One man who turned him away saw Withey snow blowing the cars and approached him in tears to apologize, saying he couldn’t sleep that night knowing he had denied Withey shelter.
Withey stayed at the school until 8 p.m. on Christmas. “I didn’t leave until I made sure everyone was okay,” he said, adding that they started a group chat to stay in touch.
Before he left, he made sure to leave a note apologizing for the break-in, which police found when they were eventually able to respond to the alarm Withey set off when he entered the school.
“To whomever it may concern, I’m terribly sorry about breaking the school window and for breaking in the kitchen,” it read. “Got stuck at 8 pm Friday and slept in my truck with two strangers, just trying not to die,” it continued. “There were 7 elderly people also stuck and out of fuel. I had to do it to save everyone and get them shelter and food and a bathroom.” He signed the letter, “Merry Christmas Jay.”"
