Cop Called To Arrest Teen For Sneaking Into Gym, Does The Unthinkable Instead.

A sweet gesture from a Chicago-area police officer is proof positive that simple acts of kindness can have a wide-ranging ripple effect.

Fifteen-year-old Skokie resident Vincent Gonzales had been warned repeatedly after staff at a local gym, X-Sport Fitness, had discovered him playing hoops in the basketball court. His family lacked the funds to renew his lapsed membership, and staff were worried about liability issues.

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When yet another trespassing incident occurred in late August, it was the last straw. The gym finally contacted the police, and Officer Mario Valenti with the Skokie Police Department answered the call.

“After 23 years in this job, you size up people pretty quickly. And I could tell he was a gentle type of kid,” he said.

Chicago Tribune

So instead of simply escorting him out of the facility, the officer instead asked why he kept trespassing — and learned that Vincent, a point guard, was trying to make it onto the team for his new high school, Uplift Community High School in Chicago’s North Side.

“I’d rather have him playing ball than being on the street and possibly getting into trouble,” Officer Valenti said.

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So, in an unbelievably kind and compassionate gesture, he took $150 out of his own pocket and offered to pay for Vincent’s membership.

Unfortunately, he soon discovered that would only cover the cost for three to four months. But when the gym’s manager called the corporate office to report the incident, corporate responded with an act of kindness of their own. They granted Vincent a two-year membership, valued at more than $700. They accepted the officer’s $150 and agreed to cover the rest of the cost themselves.

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“We all were flabbergasted here,” said the gym’s operations manager.

These kinds of compassionate acts from police officers are more common than people realize, but they’re often overshadowed by the negative aspects of their jobs. But for at least for one teenager, the kindhearted gesture served as a turning point.

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“I thought it was really nice. I texted him and I said, ‘Thank you.’ That meant a lot,” said Vincent, who’d held a generally negative view of police officers up until that point.

“For the officer to respond the way he did and turn a negative situation into an unbelievably positive situation, that’s just fantastic,” the gym’s manager added.

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