County officer turns little boy's frown upside down
The compassion and kindness of one local law enforcement officer not only probably earned him a friend for life but may also have turned a crime victim into a future partner.
The story begins Thursday night with Reserve Officer Ken Rozelle of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department responding to a theft report at the home of Courtney and David Bumgardner II at Van Bibber Lake.
"Basically the only thing taken," the officer told the Banner Graphic Monday afternoon, "was the kid's bike off the front porch."
Rozelle recalled standing on that porch, telling the parents that the chances of finding the bike "were slim to none" when he looked over and saw a dejected nine-year-old sitting on the floor inside the door, listening to every word.
Trenton Farrow had won the bike in question this past April at an Easter event. It was his prized possession and he rode it every day, mom Courtney Bumgardner said.
"He and my husband swore up and down that they put the bike on the porch when we left at 5:30, but it was gone when we came home about 10 or 10:30 (p.m.) that night," she added.
"He's a very active, outside little boy," she continued, "so he was very, very upset"
Officer Rozelle realized that too.
"When I looked over at him, I could just tell he was pretty dejected," he said. "I caught his eye and said, 'We may just get you a bike before the weekend's over.'"
Rozelle said he went home but couldn't stop thinking about the stolen bike situation, even though he didn't know the Bumgardners or little Trenton from Adam until Thursday night.
"It worked on me over the night," he said. "When I got up in the morning I posted something on Facebook, asking people if they had a bike they wanted to donate or sell."
He got all kinds of offers but nothing close to the age and condition of the wheels taken from Trenton.
"He had a fairly new bike he'd won, so if I was going to put a smile on his face, I knew I was going to have to equal or exceed that," Rozelle reasoned.
So on Sunday, before buzzing out to the fair for security and traffic detail, Rozelle "whipped into Walmart" and snapped up a seven-speed blue mountain bike snazzy enough to put a smile on the face of even Oscar the Grouch.
Courtney Bumgardner was at work Sunday when her cell phone rang and it was Officer Rozelle.
"He said he was taking my son a new bike," she gushed in reliving the emotion.
"When I got home, my son was all smiles, ear to ear. He said, 'Mom, I got a new bike!'
"My son is very, very thankful for Office Rozelle and what he did," she added. "Now he says he wants to be a police officer."
Rozelle remains modest about it all, and says he just wanted to turn a little boy's frown upside down.
"Putting a smile on his face was worth a million dollars," he allowed. "I would have bought 10 bikes (just to see that happen). Now he wants to be a police officer."
It isn't the first time Rozelle, a three-year reserve officer who puts in three nights a week for the PCSD, has done something like this.
A couple of weeks back he and Deputy Mike Downing responded to a call about a despondent subject threatening to do harm to himself.
Downing had to leave to attend to another call but Rozelle stayed with the sullen citizen.
"He was really down and out on his luck," Rozelle said. "He had nothing to eat. No electricity."
Rozelle took the man to Walmart and bought him a few groceries.
"And I sat with him and had dinner at Subway," he said.
To serve and protect. Rozelle embodies that with a couple of big smiles to prove it.
"This shows that despite what's been on the news recently, there are still some good police officers out there," Courtney Bumgardner stressed.
"Thank you, Officer Rozelle."