Local police in Alabama were busy dealing with a parade Saturday morning when they received a report of a suspicious person. However, the suspect wasn’t a criminal, but a hardworking teen boy in need of some generosity.
Dothan, Alabama, is home to the annual National Peanut Festival Fair, which kicks off with rides and food and holds a parade on Veterans Day.
When officers were called away from the festivities to investigate the “suspicious, lurking” person in the Woodland Drive neighborhood, they quickly determined that the individual walking down the road with a broken rake was actually a child, WTVY reported.
Officers responded amid concern about a suspicious person walking around a Dothan neighborhood. What happened next makes for a wonderful story of sharing. https://t.co/Lud3HZVWEa
— WTVY News 4 (@WTVYNews4) November 16, 2023
“Immediately, I could tell (he) was a juvenile,” said Field Training Officer Jimmy Watkins to the outlet.
Despite the boy’s large stature, he was barely even a teenager.
“Immediately, we walked up to him and said ‘how old are you,’ and he said 13,” said rookie William Taylor.
Upon further questioning, they discovered the 13-year-old’s name was Mark, and that he had walked from his home several blocks away, hoping to earn some money by raking yards to make his siblings’ day.
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Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office via Storyful“He told us he was out trying to rake up some yards so he could take his siblings to the (National Peanut Festival),” Taylor said, recounting how Mark said his parents could not afford it.
Even with the broken rake handle, Mark was determined to get enough money to take his brothers and sisters to the fair.
“It was very impressive to see this 13-year-old boy out working,” said Officer Chris Watson.
The officers were touched by Mark’s drive, and put their hearts and wallets together to raise some money for him.
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Warren Police Department / BODY CAMS+ /TMX“The squad came up with just short of $200 to make the festival possible for them,” Watkins said.
Lieutenant Sammy Hancock, the officers’ supervisor, also got involved with free passes and ride tickets for Mark and his siblings.
“That one thing that they did is going to make a big impact on a bunch of different people,” Hancock told the outlet of his officers.
The good Samaritan effect kept rolling when a local church heard of Mark as well.
Members of Dothan’s Church at the Crossing treated the boy’s entire family to dinner before they all enjoyed the festival, in a heartwarming ending to a great day.
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