New Jersey community helps homeless man days after twisted teen paid him $5 to dump hot coffee on own head

A homeless New Jersey man was given a haircut, new clothes and a motel room ahead of the approaching blizzard, days after a twisted teen played a cruel prank on him.

Ronald Leggatt, who lives on the streets in Lakewood, New Jersey, was the target of a terrible trick Monday when an unidentified Orthodox Jewish kid paid him $5 to dump hot coffee over his own head.

Leggatt had been scrounging for lottery tickets near a Singin gas station parking lot when offered the twisted proposition and accepted the money because he was desperate for cash.

“At first I thought it was an act of kindness but I was wrong,” Carlos Mejia, 22, a Lakewood resident said in a

Facebook post after he witnessed the pathetic prank.

“The poor man’s eyes and face were red because of the burning coffee,” he said.

The unidentified prankster videotaped the incident, allegedly for a website where Lakewood Orthodox Jewish men upload videos and photos of themselves humiliating other people.

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s office said they are investigating the existence of the web site.

Mejia’s Facebook post, which was shared over 2,000 times, prompted a police investigation but no charges were brought against the man.

“After further investigation it was determined, that although the incident occurred in poor judgement, it did not rise to a criminal act,” a statement from the Lakewood Police Department read.

“Evidence in the case revealed that both parties were willing participants and no one was injured.”

A sympathetic community member reached out to Leggat after news of the mean trick spread, offering him a haircut, new clothes and a place to stay during the incoming blizzard.

“The truth is that I saw the thing on Facebook and thought it was a horrible thing to do,” Ari Boyer, 34, a moving company owner from Lakewood, told the Daily News.

“I just don’t like to see people hurt.”

Leggatt was ecstatic to get a fresh cut and new duds.

“This is the best day of my life! I feel like a million, billion dollars!” Leggatt exclaimed after leaving the barbershop.

Boyer then took Leggatt to a local WalMart to buy new clothes and even paid out for a motel room so the homeless man would have a roof over his head during the storm.

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