‘He didn’t ask if the Mercedes was stolen’: Grateful mom’s thank you to white cop who helped her black son with flat tire late at night goes viral
A grateful Virginia mother took to Facebook to thank a white cop who helped her black son with a flat tire late at night, in a post that has since been shared more than 20,000 times.
Dr. Nada Owusu wrote in the post that her son Joseph, a Virginia Tech student, was on his way home from school last Thursday when his back tire blew out ‘in the middle of nowhere’.
She said her 20-year-old son was then approached by Officer Matt Okes, who she noted ‘didn’t ask’ Joseph if the ‘little Mercedes was stolen’ but instead ‘got on his knees to replace’ his tire.
When he realized the tire was stuck, Okes stayed with Joseph for hours until both the student’s parents and AAA arrived to help, Owusu wrote.
And as they waited Okes made sure to shine the lights of his cruiser on Joseph’s car to help warn oncoming ‘tractor trailers’ and other vehicles, according to WTVR.
Owusu, who called Okes ‘our hero’, said the officer even drove behind the family ‘for a while’ after they returned to the road.
The post has since gone viral, even catching the attention of television host Montel Williams, who told Owusu he was grateful she had shared Okes ‘act of heroic kindness with the world’.
‘And it’s equally if not more important to recognize the countless Trooper Okes’ of the world who quietly serve with distinction and embody everything we want our police to be.’
Owusu said she believed there was a lot of ‘good in this world’ and that people ‘want to hear positive stories’.
‘As far as I was concerned, there was a good person waiting with my son,’ she said.
‘I didn’t care if he was green, blue, yellow. There’s a lot of good in America and that needs to be heard. Police need our support.’
