An elderly woman was mowing her lawn when a thief ran through her open garage door, into her house, grabbed keys and stole her car.
When the police showed up, they did something she did not expect.
“I’m still in shock,” said Francis Brophy.
Moved to tears, Francis Brophy said she still can’t wrap her mind around what happened to her at her northwest Albuquerque home Wednesday afternoon.
“My adrenaline was going so fast when I started running. I just couldn’t believe it,” she said.
Brophy was mowing her lawn when a man walked through her open garage, went into her house, stole her car keys and took off with her 2002 Chrysler Sebring.
One neighbor claims that same thief tried to break into her house moments before.
“She watched him come down the street and come this way,” said Brophy. “Broad daylight, 3:10 in the afternoon.”
Soon after, two Albuquerque police officers arrived and started investigating, but that’s not all they did. Cell phone video taken by a tow truck driver nearby caught one of the officers mowing the rest of Brophy’s lawn for her.
“I thought that was wonderful of them,” said Brophy.
APD said Ofc. Connor Ollquist is the one seen mowing the lawn in the video. The video posted online on Thursday already has tens of thousands of views.
Another video posted on the APD Facebook page is getting a lot of attention too. It shows two other police officers helping fix a kid’s bike. Just as the kids hop on and get ready to ride away the cops give them a lesson in treating others with respect.
“You have got to listen. You have to do the right thing, always.” one officer said in the video.
Brophy said doing the right thing was just what the two officers who mowed her lawn did for her.
“They were wonderful, outstanding officers,” she said.
Brophy said the officers even offered to use her edger to make sure the border of the lawn looked just right, but it had a low battery.
APD has still not found Brophy’s burgundy 2002 Chrysler Sebring.
