LAKE WALES, FL (WFLA) – A small gesture by a Polk County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant is changing a couple’s view on law enforcement, while giving non -stop smiles to their children.
When Steven Skinner’s 3-year-old son Xavier woke up Saturday, they headed outside to play with their front-yard sprinkler. However, the sprinkler had been stolen. After only four months of living at the house, this made the third theft case they’ve experienced, but this one hurt the most.
“As a mother, it hurt,” Skinner’s fiancé Michelle Hipsman said. “You can take anything else, but when it comes to the kids, that’s a whole other feeling.”
Hipsman and her fiancé called the Polk County Sheriff’s Office to report the theft. A few deputies and Sgt. Shawn Stephenson showed up. But Stephenson didn’t stay long before he hit the road.
“He said, ‘Hold on, I’ll be back, I gotta make a run real quick,'” Skinner remembers, figuring the sergeant had a more important call come in and had to move on. But ten minutes later, the sergeant was back, toting a brand new blow-up pool.
“It blew my son’s mind, he couldn’t believe it,” Skinner said. Overwhelmed with joy, Michelle flagged Stephenson down as he was leaving.
She snapped a quick photo because she thinks this is the kind of story people need to see. “With all the negativity with the police we just need some positive as well,” Hipsman said. “It has made a difference not only in my life, but my children’s lives. [My son] now looks at police in a better way,” Hipsman said.
Sgt. Stephenson describes it as just another day on the job. “My entire shift and my supervision that I’m surrounded with, we all do stuff like this, it just so happens I’m the one that got caught,” Stephenson said.
