A Sheriff’s Office based in Colorado took the time to thank a semi truck driver who not only used his mechanical prowess to diagnose and fix a problem that left officers and their dogs stranded, but also refused to let them pay him for his services.
On Thursday, the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office took to Facebook to share the heartwarming story of how a trucker named Bill came to the rescue when a police vehicle broke down while transporting officers and canine units from a training exercise:
Last Sunday, May 16th, our Eagle County Sheriff’s Office K-9 teams were making their way back home to Colorado from K9 certification trials in Wyoming when one of the marked K9 patrol vehicles began to have mechanical issues. The team pulled into ‘semi parking’ at a gas station where they began making phone calls. The local Police and Sheriff’s Offices were unable to offer any resources as it was Sunday in the rural area. A ‘plan B” was offered by the Albany County Sheriff’s Office K-9 handler if mechanical help was not located.
The K9 deputies returned to the disabled vehicle and a semi-truck driver stopped by to offer his assistance. The good samaritan named Bill Johnson (from Idaho) was able to help deputies diagnose the mechanical issue (a bad water pump) and assisted with locating the part at an open auto parts store nearby. Bill then worked for almost 4 hours to get the K9 deputies patrol vehicle operable and ran checks to ensure there would not be any additional mechanical issues on the remaining 3+ hour drive back home to Colorado.
Our K9 deputy team offered several times to pay Bill (out of their own pockets) for his work and his assistance, which he declined each time saying it was a small thank you that he could provide for what they do. Deputies then offered to purchase him a meal, drinks, or snacks before he continued on his trip, and he declined saying that he was “taken care of already”. The deputies did get Bill to accept some Sheriff’s Office swag (SOU coin and patch, a K-9 coin, stickers for his kids) and a couple of Starbucks cards a deputy had with them. Those small items seemed to make a big impression on Bill and he was on his way.
Our K9 deputies could not be more grateful to Bill for his help and our impression is Bill wasn’t looking for recognition or payment for what he did, he just did what he thought was right and was happy to do it. We wanted to send Bill Johnson of Idaho a huge THANK YOU for the selfless service he provided to our K9 team and let him know it was so refreshing to meet such an amazing, hardworking person who was willing and able to lend a helping hand.We are truly grateful and appreciate the support we feel both in our community and when we are on the road & out of state! Perfect Logistics LLC
The uplifting story has been liked nearly 1500 times in less than 24 hours.