Officer Didn’t Know He Was Being Watched, Never Expected Praise
BY: ANDREW COLTON | EDITOR and PUBLISHER
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — A Boca Raton police officer didn’t know anyone was watching when he stopped what he was doing, picked up a turtle in the road, and moved it to safety before it became a casualty of an an unsuspecting motorist.
But two BocaNewsNow.com readers were watching — from their home — and were blown away by what they saw.
Here’s the email we received about the Friday turtle rescue:
“This morning, my wife saw out of the window a police officer walking by the side of my home towards the backyard. Fearing the worst, she rushed over to me to go outside and find out what was going on. When I asked the officer what was happening, he told me one of the large turtles that live in our community lake was walking in the middle of the road. He told me he. had picked it up and put it back in the lake before it got run over.”
The euphoric email continues.
“In the 10 years I’ve lived here, on several occasions sadly I’ve seen the remains of one of the turtles who had been hit by a car — but I have never seen someone pick one up and walk the hundreds of yards to take it back to the lake. This officer didn’t know anyone was witnessing this kind act, he had no thoughts someone would acknowledge it, let alone thank him. He did it because like the tens of thousands of police who protect and serve our community it was a simple act of kindness and going that extra mile which in their totality are not at all a small thing but reflect the massive impact our police have on making our communities a better and safer place – and yes even for turtles!”
…it was a simple act of kindness and going that extra mile, which in their totality are not at all a small thing, but reflect the massive impact our police have on making our communities a better and safer place…
–Reader email to BocaNewsNow.com
We reached out to Boca Raton Spokeswoman Ofc. Jessica Desir who shared more details.
“That’s Officer Ryan Vrabel,” she said, “and he was hired in March 2019. I called him to see if he had a picture with the turtle and he laughed. He said there’s no turtle pic. He’s currently working an extra-duty detail and he noticed a turtle in the roadway so he helped it along to a safer location.”
Area police officers do great things every day and never expect credit. If you see an officer going above and beyond, let us know. Our email is news (at) bocanewsnow.com. We do ask that you always keep a safe distance from officers engaged in policing — even relocating a turtle.
