Monmouth County Police Officer Gives Teen New Boots In Snowstorm

HIGHLANDS, NJ — It was noon on Thursday, and the snow was flying, especially in bayfront, windswept Highlands, NJ. Jerry Homiak got out of his house and trudged to his local deli, Katz's Luncheonette on Bay Avenue. He just went out to get cigarettes, and didn't think he'd witness something that will likely stick with him for years to come.

"It was right in the thick of it, right in the middle of the storm," said Homiak, 58. "A young cop comes in behind me and looks all over the store, clearly looking for someone. He asks the girl behind the counter where the teenage boy went who was just in here. I start thinking to myself, 'Oh boy, it's a bad day and now someone's day is going to get even worse.'"

Wanting to help, Homiak said a young man in a white hoodie had just left the store and was a few blocks away. To his shock, the officer told Jerry and the others in the store that the teen needed new shoes and he wanted to give him a new pair of boots.

"He said he noticed the kid had on ratty sneakers and that nobody should be walking around like that in weather like this," Homiak said. "He wanted to give him a pair of boots. He ran out of the store looking for him."

That officer has been identified by Highlands police as Patrolman Kevin O'Donnell, a recent addition to the force, and who grew up in Highlands.

"I just kept thinking about it," Homiak said, who shared what he saw on Facebook. "There is so much divisiveness these days and you don't hear about people just helping other people for no reason."

"I don't know if the officer knew that young man personally or not but, it didn't sound like he did. But for a new officer to go out of his way to see that a stranger has what he needed, to me, is the definition of 'to protect and serve' and what makes this little piece of the world so great. It's news of police actions like this that deserves attention and recognition," he wrote on Facebook.

The Highlands police did not return Patch's call to interview Patrolman O'Donnell. Homiak runs the non-profit Pirate's Care, which helps kids with cancer, and runs the Parade of Lights on the Navesink every Father's Day weekend in the summer.

Did you witness something special in yesterday's snowstorm? Email reporter Carly.Baldwin@patch.com.

Image via Morguefile