SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) – Ivan Crisostomo is a letter carrier who has been labeled a hero. It’s a term he’s not exactly comfortable with.
“I don’t see myself as a hero. I see … myself as a person who really wants to help. That’s what I did. I helped,” Crisostomo said.
He helped Crystal Allen escape a nightmare. She was held captive for three months. During that time, she was drugged, beaten and sexually assaulted.
“They made it impossible. They had guard dogs and people that would watch us all the time and not let us leave. I was tied to chairs,” she said.
On June 8, Crystal was able to flee her captor’s car and hide behind a bush. Not far away, Crisostomo was delivering mail when he heard her crying.
“I hear this crying, this really bad crying. So, I went around behind this large, bush-like thing, large tree and saw this young lady,” he said. “The girl kept saying, ‘They are coming to get me. They are coming to get me.’ I said, ‘Don’t worry, nobody is going to get you. I’m here for you.’”
Crisostomo helped Crystal call home. Her parents thought she had run away.
“(She) was in a group home, and being a teenager, ran away, and the person she left with took her straight to the pimp and turned her over in Sacramento,” Crystal’s mother, Stacy Ohman, said.
The postal worker comforted and protected Crystal until deputies and paramedics arrived.
“I’m super thankful and happy that he did that for me,” Crystal said. “If you are in that situation, just keep fighting.”
Crystal is currently living in a group home, where she is undergoing intensive therapy and is thankful for a second chance after her nightmarish ordeal.
This report originated from KCRA-TV.
