Police Set Up GoFundMe Project For Man Accused Of Colliding With Patrol Car

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

A ninety year old man left a note on an unmarked patrol car he accidentally struck while parking next to it had a big surprise after he received a telephone call from a police sergeant who called to settle the damages: a crowd sourced funding campaign to pay for it.

 

On February ninth, a twenty-four year veteran of the Burien Washington Police Department returned from a meeting to the parking lot where he discovered his unmarked car had been struck, causing over two thousand three hundred dollars damage. A business card was left from the driver causing the collision who wished to make contact to settle the damage.

The officer called the driver and they agreed to meet the next day. The driver was a ninety year old World War Two Veteran that had been driving since he was ten years old in a rural county.

The veteran was extremely apologetic over the collision and stated this was his first accident in his eighty years of driving. They spoke of his interesting life and career in the military.

Out of respect for the driver’s service, the officer wished to find a way to give tribute to the elderly veteran and after posting the incident on his Facebook page several friends suggested he create a GoFundMe page to raise funds for the collision.

The officer then created the funding project and wrote:

Anything you would like to contribute will go directly towards the repair bill. He had an old car and has no desire to fix the minor damage to it. The repair estimate is $2,332.50 and any money collected above this amount will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Foundation. Any amount would be appreciated and demonstrates our respect and appreciation for the sacrifice of this brave Veteran. Thank you!

Presently (10:51 AM Eastern) the fundraiser has brought in fifteen hundred dollars to offset the cost of the patrol car’s damage for the veteran who decided he would not repair his own vehicle due to its age.

Any surplus funds will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Foundation.

Contributions to the GoFundMe project may be made at:

http://www.gofundme.com/thankaveteran

[Update] As of 1:00 PM Eastern, donations have reached the funding goal. Congratulations to all who provided donations to a certainly thankful vet.

By Darren Smith

Sources:

GoFundMe
Burien Police Twitter Page

The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.