Lynn phone theft victim receives pleasant surprise

LYNN – A city man’s faith in good karma was rewarded Sunday after a stranger replaced a cellphone the man had reported stolen.”I was just flabbergasted, I really didn’t know what to say,” city resident Paul Thompson said after receiving the gift Sunday. “I was stunned.”Thompson, 59, and his wife, Diane, reported they were sitting on their stoop the evening of Sept. 20 when a local youth came up and began chatting. The youth reportedly asked the time and touched Thompson’s iPhone 4S, which was in a case lying on the stoop. About 10 minutes after the youth left, Thompson said he noticed the case was empty.Thompson said the phone had the numbers of 15 of his doctors who have treated him since he became disabled from a fall while working many years ago.Apple canceled the service so the phone could not be used, and police took a report of the incident. But Thompson acknowledged police deal with reports of stolen phones all the time… Yet, he said he believes in good karma and so he contacted The Daily Item.Resident Daniel Evans said he saw the subsequent story and also believes in good karma. So he contacted Lynn Police last week and said he wanted to buy Thompson a new phone.”Well, I got angry that the poor man got his phone stolen,” Evans said Thursday. “There are too many (expletives) in the world and I try to make up for it. I just felt bad for the gentleman. I just wanted to help him out.”Evans said he regularly gives to charitable causes but had never bought anything so specific for anybody before.The two met downtown Sunday and it turned out Thompson was wearing a sweatshirt for an East Boston fire crew stationed just down the street from where Evans, a former firefighter, grew up.”He was a great guy,” Thompson said.But Thompson said he still has one problem; setting up the new phone.”It’s a little too complicated for me? I’ll have to wait for my son to set it up and all,” Thompson said. “Then I can see if I can retrieve my numbers somehow.”