When Keonte Evans’ mother heard her teenager was being driven home in a police car, she was terrified.
“I was like, ‘What’s going on?’” Gabrielle Evans said. “I was so scared.”
When the same police car pulled up to her house again just a few days later, it made her son’s day.
Officer Eric Colleran of the Hapeville Police Department responded to a criminal trespassing call last week and found Keonte Evans, 16, doing yard work. The teenager explained he had been hired to trim hedges and pull weeds by the caller’s roommate. The officer gave Keonte a ride home and the two quickly got to chatting.
Keonte, the oldest of six children who helps his mom with his siblings, told Colleran that he was working to earn money to buy his brothers and sisters clothes for school. A big gamer, he added that his dream was to eventually earn enough money to purchase a PlayStation Five.
Colleran said he was struck by the young man’s story and felt compelled to help.
“This kid was super respectful, and you don’t always get that these days,” Colleran said. “Where I work, you only deal with people, you know, usually in their worst moments. But when I pulled up to him, he didn’t run. He didn’t like get defensive. He had extremely, extremely good manners.”
After Colleran went home, he couldn’t stop thinking about the hardworking teen. He, too, is a gamer and said he appreciated his passion and hardworking spirit. So, he turned to social media.
After posting on TikTok and Facebook, Colleran raised enough money for the PlayStation.
“I knew it was going to take him a while doing some yard work to be able to get what he wanted,” Colleran said. “So I just thought I could speed it up and do it for him.”
Colleran told Keonte he would be checking in on him, so the teen wasn’t surprised when he saw the patrol car in front of his house. But what he didn’t expect was a PlayStation.
After Colleran pulled the console out of his trunk, Keonte gave him a hug, ran inside with the PlayStation, then ran outside to give Colleran another hug.
The online fundraiser, by the way, took just a few days and the generosity of just a few folks.
“I think most people are just good people,” Colleran said. “They’re willing to give, even people that may not have enough to give all on their own, because they know that it only takes a few (dollars) to change somebody’s year.”
Keonte’s mom said she had warned her son against doing more yard work, fearful of another encounter with police. She worries a lot about what could have happened but said she is incredibly proud of the way Keonte handled the situation and the reward he received for it.
“It made me feel so, so good,” Gabrielle Evans said. “It made me feel like I did a good job raising my son.”
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