Good Samaritan rewarded $100Gs kidnapped, robbed by family

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A Detroit man who was gifted $100,000 for being kind to an influencer was later kidnapped and robbed by his own family trying to steal his windfall, police said.

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Curtis Dixon was ready to pawn his wedding ring to pay bills last month when he came across a blind man in need of help.

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It turned out the man was pretending he was unable to see and was actually TikTok influencer Zachery Dereniowski, who gave Dixon $1,000 for his act of kindness.

The two men shared an emotional moment in which Dixon told him how desperately he needed the money, prompting Dereniowski, who goes by mdmotivator online, to arrange a GoFundMe that raised $100,000 and helped buy Dixon a new car.

But rather than be happy for the man, his nephew, Roland Terrell Chatmon, orchestrated a plot to rob and kidnap Dixon, according to a probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by Wjbk.

Recorded phone conversations between Chatmon and his brother, an inmate at Wayne County Jail, were captured by authorities in which a struggling Chatmon expressed his desire to “turn a hustle” on his uncle.

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“I need some racks real quick,” Chatmon allegedly said, referring to money. “I’m tired of this s—.”

Chatmon, his brother and mother were recorded in a follow-up call where he allegedly said he could “figure” something out.

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On Sept. 1, police responded to a reported home invasion where Dixon’s wife told officers that two armed suspected pointed a gun at her, tied her up and stole a safe, the outlet reported.

At about the same time, cops responded to a vehicle fire in another part of the city where they found Dixon tied up on the ground near his SUV that was engulfed in flames.

Witnesses said they pulled him from the vehicle.

Dixon told police he was helping a woman, who claimed her car had been stolen.

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He agreed to give her a ride and they ended up at a location where he was tied up by other suspected who demanded his money and threatened to kill his wife, according to the criminal complaint.

Dixon was taken to several ATMs where the suspects withdrew cash from his account, Dixon told cops.

Authorities tracked down the suspects using cell phone records and ATM surveillance footage, according to the court document.

Investigators also uncovered Chatmon’s phone calls, in which Dixon coming into money and the GoFundMe were discussed.

Officials have charged Chatmon, Leica Lopez Martinez, Ieasha Anna Stroman, Dnequia Jenise Stroman and Kenneth Paul Anderson with conspiracy to commit kidnapping in connection with Dixon’s abduction, according to the outlet.

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Dixon, who was not named by authorities in the complaint but identified in local reports, went viral for being “the first kind person to be nice” to Dereniowski.

In a follow-up videoposted on Dereniowski’s TikTok on Aug. 21, the influencer thanked his followers for helping raise the $100,000 and is seen in the video handing Dixon the funds.

““Oh my God,” Dixon said repeatedly as he broke down.

“We need more people like Curtis in this world,” Dereniowski told Wjbk at the time.

“Everyone can do these small acts because the small acts are what matters.”

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