By Police1 Staff
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An Alabama college student who walked 20 miles to work after his car broke down was gifted a new vehicle, and it all started after he was helped by a group of officers.
Walter Carr embarked on the long journey to his new job Friday after his car trouble, AL.com reported. During his trek, he was spotted by Pelham Officer Mark Knighten.
Since it was 3 a.m. and he was on the side of the road, Knighten approached Carr to check if everything was OK. Knighten said Carr was “very polite,” and after learning his story, he and two fellow officers offered their help.
The LEOs took Carr to get some breakfast and, since it was still early, then brought him to a church - a safe place to stay until it was time for his first day on the job with a moving company.
https://twitter.com/PelhamPoliceAL/status/1018958515761709058
A little later, an officer who was just getting on the clock, Scott Duffey, learned about Carr’s story from his colleagues and stepped in to help as well.
Duffey took Carr to the Lamey family house, which he was scheduled to help move that morning. According to a Facebook post by Jenny Lamey, the family was getting things ready for the movers when they saw police at their door.
“[The officer] proceeded to tell us that he had picked up ‘this nice kid’ in Pelham early this morning,” Lamey wrote. “The nice kid, Walter, said that he was supposed to help us with our move today. It was his first day on the job with this moving company (Bellhops) and he was ‘training’ today.”
Lamey said she learned more about Carr, who moved to Alabama after Hurricane Katrina, and was impressed by the young man. Luke Marklin, CEO of Bellhops moving company, learned about Carr’s story after Lamey’s Facebook post went viral.
On Monday, Marklin traveled to meet Carr and surprised the student by giving him his own, barely-driven 2014 Ford Escape. Several Pelham officers were there when Marklin presented Carr with his new vehicle and congratulated the student.
An emotional Carr said he was grateful for the new car and thanked everybody who helped him out.