Struggling Single Mom Had No One To Turn to, So Kind Police Step In To Help
Since moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, single mother Tishea Perry has dealt with one bad situation after another.
“I’ve been having a tough time since living here,” Perry told WJZY-TV. “My door has been kicked a couple times — someone has broken into my home.”
The front door to Perry’s apartment was extremely damaged from the break-in, leaving Perry feeling uneasy and scared at night.
To make matters worse, Perry found her front tire severely slashed 11 times outside her apartment just days later.
Perry called the police to report the crime, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Will Reinke showed up at her home.
Reinke was bothered by the entire situation and told Perry he would follow up in a few weeks.
“She didn’t deserve what’s happened to her — it struck a chord for me,” he said.
When Reinke returned to follow up as promised, he saw that Perry’s front door had not been fixed and she was still driving on the spare tire.
Reinke decided he wanted to buy Perry a new tire, and asked if he could take the damaged tire with him, saying he needed it as part of the investigation. Instead, he took the tire so he could match it to the new one she needed.
On his day off, Reinke returned once again with a new tire in hand. He brought in his colleague, detective Adam Planty, to help with repairs on the broken front door.
Perry was overwhelmed with surprise and thankfulness for the help she so desperately needed.
“He said he was going to dust my tire for prints, so he came back with a brand new tire and brought my daughter a stuffed animal dog,” Perry said.
“She says she wants to be a police officer when she grows up.”
The officers worked to change out the tire and temporarily fix the front door, leaving Perry overwhelmed with emotion.
“I’m a little emotional because no one else would help me. I called several times to tell them I was afraid of being in my home with my door open and it had been three and a half weeks nothing was done, and the next day my door was fixed,” Perry said.
“I just could not believe two strangers were at my house fixing my door, let alone police officers,” she added.
Reinke and Planty were glad to restore some hope and security to Perry’s life, and plan to return with more supplies to completely fix the front door.
“Every now and then you come across a situation like this one where you can go the extra mile and really make a difference in someone’s life,” said Planty.
“It makes me feel good, like I made a difference to somebody which is all I can ask for,” Reinke added.
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