When a Washington State man saw a sheriff’s deputy along the side of the road, he thought it was odd and decided to take a closer look. When he figured out what the officer was doing, he took a picture, revealing something the officer never expected others to find out. Darren Ballard Sr. of Tacoma, Washington, was sitting in traffic next to a police car when he noticed something out of the ordinary.
An on-duty sheriff’s deputy caught Ballard’s eye, and he snapped a picture. At first glance, it seemed like just a photo of a sheriff’s cruiser sitting on the side of the road. But a closer look revealed the cop sitting in a patch of grass, almost hidden by a tree, next to someone. There was a lot more going on in the picture than initially met the eye.
Ballard had captured a genuine act of kindness from a concerned officer. “I just couldn’t believe my eyes,” he said. “I looked over, and there was an officer in uniform sitting on the grass, sharing a sandwich with a homeless guy. I was just blown away.
This cop was having a sandwich with a homeless guy, wanting no attention, just doing a good deed.” The Pierce County man wrote as he posted the image to Facebook, “There are good police officers out there. This made my day. Please share,” and share they did.
The photo quickly spread like wildfire, with thousands of shares from social media users, including one from the local sheriff’s department where the deputy works. As it went viral, more information emerged about the cop and his unlikely friend. The deputy, who wished to remain anonymous, found the homeless man panhandling and struck up a conversation with him.
According to Pierce County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sergeant Ed Troyer, the deputy asked the man if he was hungry. When the man said he was, the deputy sat down with him and shared his lunch. Troyer wrote on the department’s Facebook page, “Our deputy sat down with him and shared his lunch.”
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