Robert McCamish was driving to the doctor’s office when a young woman came running down the street of his Bowie, Md., neighborhood screaming for help.
The then-79-year-old Air Force veteran did not hesitate, immediately letting her jump into his car and speeding away, he said in court. But within minutes after he drove off, the ex-boyfriend’s car came into view alongside McCamish’s vehicle. The ex-boyfriend started cutting off McCamish before he rammed the veteran’s car and physically attacked him while McCamish was still strapped in his seat belt.
The assault left McCamish with a concussion, a split chin, a mangled ear and possible neurological damage. And for now, it has ended his decades-long love of flying and volunteer work as a pilot transporting people to medical care far from their homes.
“If he is allowed to run free in society, his next victim may not survive,” McCamish said Thursday in court at the sentencing for the man convicted of assaulting him.
A judge sentenced Robert Mallette, 23, of Upper Marlboro to seven years in prison for the September attack — two years more than the recommended maximum of five years set by state sentencing guidelines.
Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge John P. Davey said the tough sentence was necessary because the injuries to McCamish were so severe.
“This is certainly an extraordinary event,” Davey said before imposing the sentence. When someone assaults a good Samaritan, “you clearly wonder what our world and our community are coming to.”
A jury convicted Mallette of two counts of second-degree assault last month.
According to testimony:
Mallette went to his ex-girlfriend’s house Sept. 2 during the day to confront her after she had recently broken up with him in a text message. He got in using a garage code and attacked her before she managed to escape.
McCamish was driving in his neighborhood to a medical appointment about 11 a.m. when a young woman in hysterics flagged him down, screaming that she was worried she was going to be killed. The woman turned out to be his neighbor.
He was trying to be a good citizen and help, McCamish said, adding that it did not occur to him that he would be pursued. The two darted through traffic in Bowie, through two intersections, as Mallette tried to cut off McCamish’s car. McCamish was then forced to stop at a busy crossing. That’s when Mallette rear-ended McCamish. Mallette jumped out of his car, then pulled open the driver-side door and pummeled McCamish. The woman ran from the scene after flagging down another passing driver.
During his sentencing hearing, Mallette stood before the judge and apologized to McCamish and his own family. He called his actions an “inexcusable mistake.”
“I never meant or planned or intended for anyone to be hurt,” Mallette said. “I really thought thousands of times how easily this could have been avoided.”
McCamish’s injuries were so severe, he had to be airlifted to the shock trauma center in Baltimore and underwent multiple surgeries. He spent four days in the hospital and had his mouth wired shut for 28 days.
McCamish testified that his injuries caused severe physical and emotional pain for him and his wife. And the physical damage also jeopardized his ability to enjoy his love of piloting planes.
He has flown since 1959, when he began his military service, and has spent the past 23 years as a volunteer pilot for Compassion Airlift, a nonprofit group that provides free flights to people who need specialized medical care that is not immediately available to them close to their homes. “I’ve not been able to fly anymore since I was assaulted, because of my concussion,” McCamish said.
McCamish said he is awaiting word from the Federal Aviation Administration to find out whether he will be able to fly again. If that approval falls through, he said, “my lifetime passion for flying will come to an abrupt end.”
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