By Police1 Staff
JAMESBURG, N.J. — The daughter of a fallen cop anonymously paid for an officer’s meal after a brief conversation with him at a restaurant.
Mikayla Raji, 8, and her mom Mimi were eating Friday when Officer Joseph Quinn walked in to grab a bite to eat, the department wrote on Facebook. After a brief conversation, Mikayla told her mom she wanted to pay for Quinn’s food, and Mimi went up to pay the tab.
According to the Facebook post, the waiter would not tell Quinn who paid the bill, but through “diligent police work,” he discovered it was Mikayla.
https://www.facebook.com/Jamesburgpolice/posts/1927705887443112
Mikayla lost her dad, Thomas, in 2008 when a drunk driver struck his police cruiser. Her mother, a retired police officer, was pregnant with Mikayla at the time. She was born seven months after Thomas died, according to the department.
When Quinn returned to the station, the agency decided to return the favor and created a GoFundMe page to help support Mikayla’s education. She was invited to become an honorary member of the department and lead the town’s Memorial Day parade, Inside Edition reported.
“She’s real excited about that,” Police Chief James Craparotta said. “She has a great deal of pride that her dad and her mom were both police officers. She supports the police and she’s just feels like we’re a part of her life – it’s part of her family.”