Teen Accepts Ride From Cop Late At Night Not Realizing He Overshared Until He Gets A Visit From The Officers

May 09, 2020 by apost team

This heartwarming story from 2016 demonstrates the kindness of strangers and how it's impossible to know the way that someone you run into may affect your life for the better. 

At the time, Jourdan Duncan was 18-years-old and lived with his parents in Vallejo, California. He worked for a nutritional supplement company called Pro-Form Laboratories in nearby Benicia, California, which is about seven miles from his house.

After Duncan's car broke down he began to walk home from work. One night, Corporal Kirk Keffer of the Benicia Police Department spotted Duncan walking home and offered him a ride. After listening to his story, Keffer wanted to help the young man out, so he and his police department banded together and bought the young man a bike. What's more, he began a fundraising effort that raised over $50,000 that went towards Duncan buying a new car and pursuing his dream of going to college and becoming a police officer. 

While not all 18-year-olds want to hold down jobs, Duncan is more than happy to do overnight work at Pro-Form Laboratories packing shipping boxes. He obtained the position through a friend from church. But after his car broke down Duncan had to walk home from work.

Usually, his commute is a quick seven-mile ride, but it increased to over two hours when his car broke down. While Duncan was offered rides to work by his parents and other people in his life, he wanted to make it on his own leading him to walk the distance when his shift was over, despite how long it took.  

The night that Corporal Keffer came across Duncan, he was on his patrol. At first, when he saw the youngster walking he became suspicious. Speaking with reporters from CNN, Corporal Keffer said that he was surprised to see a young person walking in Benicia’s industrial sector late at night. The officer was especially concerned because the area did not even have a sidewalk and Duncan was walking on the side of the road.

As Corporal Keffer pulled his patrol car over to talk to Duncan, the young man confessed that he felt a little nervous. In a separate interview with CBS, he said that he made sure not to run so that the officer would not think that he had committed a crime or was in possession of any weapons.

Exiting his patrol car, Corporal Keffer questioned the teen, who told him his story. The officer was instantly impressed by Duncan's work ethic and later remarked to reporters that most teenagers do not want to make a quick trip to the store let alone walk seven miles to work each night. While many officers might have just let the teen continue on his trek home, Corporal Keffer felt that he needed to do something for the young man and thus offered him a ride home.

But that's not even the end of the story. On their ride together, Corporal Keffer became even more impressed when Duncan told him that he was planning on saving money to go to college so that he could become a police officer.  

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Once Corporal Keffer was done with his shift, he was determined to help Duncan achieve his dreams. In a conversation with his supervisor, the officer got permission to use police association funds to buy Duncan a $500 mountain bike, which would be ideal for the steep hills near the young man’s home. Corporal Keffer, along with several other officers from the Benicia Police Department, then went to surprise Duncan with the gift after he got off work.

As they stood in the lab’s parking lot, Corporal Keffer later remembered thinking that he hoped that the young man would not think that he was in trouble with so many officers present to greet him. As Duncan emerged from the building, he had the biggest smile on his face upon seeing the police department’s gift. When they presented the bike to Duncan, the officers made sure to congratulate him on his strong work ethic.

As he happily accepted the gift, Duncan promised that he would take extremely good care of the bike and that it would change his life. Corporal Keffer also told of how he had set up a GoFundMe page to help Duncan pay for college.

In the end, over $51,000 was raised to help Duncan out. As reported by the Benicia Herald, the teen was able to buy a 2003 Volkswagen Passat with some of the money, while the remainder went towards a laptop and enrolment at Solano Community College in Fairfield. Duncan undertook general education classes to work toward a Criminal Justice degree, to help him become a police officer one day. 

In a 2018 interview with Corporal Keffer, the officer said he and Duncan were still in touch. The young man worked at the San Francisco Airport but still had dreams to become a police officer.  

Seeing Jourdan Duncan's commitment to serving the community, Corporal Keffer gifted the young man a bike that would help him achieve his dreams. What do you think of this story? Have you ever had a difficult commute to work? Pass this on to those you know to spread this positive message.