Cops Questions Homeless Woman After 'Suspicious Behavior' Call. Looks at Feet & Knows
People love acts of heroism that you could announce with fireworks, big and bold statements that echo down the halls of history. But a story out of Temecula, California, reminds us that even seemingly small actions can have an outsize impact.
On November 8, 2015, Temecula police officer Bruce Pierson received a call that must’ve been all too familiar to him. Someone at the local Promenade Mall had noticed a suspicious looking woman puttering around a group of parked cars.
When he arrived, he could see that the woman in question was obviously homeless. And she hadn’t been trying to break into any of the vehicles.
Instead, the woman — an 18-year-old whose name was Franki — told Pierson that she’d been trying to keep under the shade as the sun shifted with the day. The officer would’ve been well within his rights to tell her to shove off, but he did something else: he listened.
Pierson soon learned that Franki has lived on the streets since age 12. She’d also lost a child to miscarriage the previous year.
As they talked, the officer looked down at the young woman and noticed something. Her feet were covered with calluses and so begrimed that they seemed almost as black as his boots.
“She said, ‘I haven’t had shoes for two months,’” Pierson explained to KSWB. So he decided to do something about it.
Pierson took Franki into the mall, determined to buy her a pair of shoes. Once he got into a Payless store, a pair of shoppers noticed his selfless actions.
“We decided to offer another pair of shoes for her,” Joshuah Rounds wrote on Facebook. “Between us and the police officer, she walked out of payless with two pairs of shoes, a pack of socks, and a scarf since the weather is getting cold.
“The amazing Payless cashier heard us helping her and talked to the manager, and they gave us a 30 percent discount. Thank you, Payless, for the extra love.”
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Pierson’s wife also gathered up more warm-weather clothing to help Franki. “I would hope any human would do that,” the officer said.
“This happens every day with my brothers and sisters in law enforcement. We go and we serve our communities every day, and it goes unnoticed.”
Perhaps, Officer Pierson, but it didn’t go unnoticed today. Your selflessness has not only helped a single life, but it has lifted the spirits of all of us.
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