Police officer helps boys duped out of money at lemonade stand
[Sept 15, 2021: Kendall Bartley]
“I wanted to show them that people are good," said Eugene Police Officer Hudson Warden, who helped 12-year-olds Preston Reid and Blaze Chase after they were duped out of money at their lemonade stand. (CREDIT: SBG)
While trying to raise some extra cash this summer, two 12-year-olds were duped.
Turns out, someone gave them fake money to pay for a glass of lemonade.
That’s when a Eugene Police officer showed up. His Acts of Kindness is teaching them a lifelong lesson for these two budding entrepreneurs, and showing them that there are still good people in the world.
A man showed up to the stand and handed Preston Reid and Blaze Chase a $100 bill. Luckily, Preston was smart enough to realize something wasn’t right.
“He was asking us how our sales were going and how our day was going, and then he handed a $100 bill to Preston,” said Blaze.
Preston knew something wasn’t right. “I knew it was fake, but I didn’t want to say to his face because I kind of got nervous."
Blaze then tried to stall by slowly counting $97 in change.
The boys have been hosting the lemonade stand since the beginning of summer and said they’ve been quite successful, making a few hundred dollars that they then split between them.
“As I finish counting the money, Preston was running down the sidewalk saying, 'it’s fake,' but the guy had already jumped in his car,” said Blaze. “So we tried to get photos of his license plate, but they weren’t clear enough.”
That’s when their moms got involved.
“We were shocked. It was devastating for the kids and I think it was devastating for us to know that there are people driving around that would steal from children," said Jasmine Chase, Blaze's mother.
Next on scene was Eugene Police Officer Hudson Warden.
“This is horrible,” said Officer Warden. “So I went into the store I tried to use their ATM to get some money. They didn’t have it; their ATM was broken. So, I went down to the credit union, I took out $100 and I came back and I gave them $100.”
It’s this simple - and profitable - act of kindness that taught Preston and Blaze a lifelong lesson.
“We were super happy. It helped us feel much better. It was really comforting about the whole thing,” said Blaze.
Officer Warden is hoping to teach the lesson: “I wanted to show them that people are good."
They said that while the experience was scary, they still plan to host lemonade stands in the future.
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Tags: #Good_News, #Police, #Kindness, #Helping_Hand, #Community_Service, #Generosity, #The_Brighter_Side_of_News
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