Four-year-old boy battling deadly disease becomes honorary police officer

LANDOVER, MD — A four-year-old boy who is currently in hospice care was honored with a very special day.

On Saturday, September 22nd, The Prince George’s County Police Department honored Kristopher Quander, by  making him an honorary police officer. 

According to ThePatch, the department celebrated Quander with a “Salute to Ride” parade around the Capital Beltway. Quander’s trip ended at FedExField where police celebrated his life alongside the Washington Football Team and the Negro League Legends Hall of Fame, a local nonprofit that recounts the importance of the first professional baseball association for Black Americans.

The police department said on Facebook:

“We are very proud of Kristopher and support him and his family in this fight,” 

It is truly heartwarming to see these officers try to brighten the day of a young boy who does not have much time left in this world. Even as half the country has turned against police, they still continue to do the good they have always done…the good that very few want to see lately. 

Here is a story Law Enforcement Today brought you about a Prince George’s County police officer who rescued a man from a burning car. 

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PALMER PARK, MD – Recent cellphone video footage captured the moments where a Prince George’s County police officer rescued a man after he reportedly crashed a U-Haul van directly into a building.

The circumstances of how the June 20^th collision happened is still unclear at this time.

The video footage, which was captured by local Hyattsville resident Derrick Hall showed the aftermath of the crash, where plumes of smoke can be seen emitting from the area and the vehicle itself.

The officer can be seen extracting the male from the van, where you can still audibly hear the gas pedal being pressed after the impact.

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It is unclear if the man inside of the van was intentionally keeping his foot lodged on the gas, but when he’s extracted, he appears to be disoriented.

Reports indicate that the U-Haul van collided with a building within the Victory House Shopping Center, which was said to be building that housed the local Boys and Girls Club. Flames were said to be emanating around the site of the crash, which police were able to extinguish.

And below is the first part of the bystander video sent exclusively to @fox5dc before the man seen in my previous tweet, is rescued by @PGPDNews. This after the driver crashed into a building and the van catches on fire. No word yet on how or why he crashed. pic.twitter.com/iHlIpck7yk

— Ayesha Khan (@AyeshaKhanNews) June 21, 2020

Hall heralded the quick thinking employed by the officer at the scene:

“Oh yeah I was thinking about jumping into that truck and getting him out but it was too much smoke. The police officer, I don’t know his name but hey that dude right there he got more heart than I do.”

The Prince George’s County Department have not revealed the name of either the officer involved nor the driver of the vehicle at this time.

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In Pennsylvania, there was also a recent vehicular crash that resulted in a fiery rescue – but this time, it was a citizen coming to the aid of an officer. 

Police in the Pennsylvania town of Uniontown are extending accolades to a local bystander who happened to help save a Uniontown Police officer after a vehicular crash that happened on June 21^st.  

The bystander was said to have acted quick after seeing the police cruiser start to catch fire following the crash.

Bystander helps save Uniontown police officer following fiery crash https://t.co/jccaLrDE22

— Connie Rye (@ConnieRye) June 22, 2020

Daylan McLee is the local who is being heralded as a hero of sorts for his action on June 21^st, after a crash occurred just outside of his home. Uniontown Police Lieutenant Thomas Kolencik commented on his immense gratitude toward McLee:

“Daylan actually said, ‘I’m not going to let him die.’ There’s just no words to describe, you know.”

The officer that McLee is credited for helping save is Officer Jay Hanley. Apparently, Officer Hanley had been involved in a vehicular crash with another car outside of McLee’s home located on East Fayette Street.

McLee commented on the moments prior to him rendering assistance:

“We felt it in the house and my sister came screaming that two cars hit each other and one was a cop.”

After hearing the crash, McLee ran outside of his home to find Officer Hanley trapped inside of his cruiser:

“He was asking not to be moved. Not to be moved.”

Another officer had reportedly responded to the scene of the crash, and both that officer and McLee noticed that there were flames starting to comes from the vehicle:

“We started to see the flames start to come inside of the car from the bottom and I knew we had to get him out. Another officer tried to assist me and I just ripped the door open and we started dragging him across the street before the car ignited or anything serious like that.”

Both McLee and Police Captain David Rutter were able to extract Officer Hanley from the vehicle, while another officer was said to have extinguished the flames that were burning underneath the car. Lieutenant Kolencik is grateful that someone like McLee was there to help:

“We are so thankful that Daylan was in the area at the time. It could have been a lot worse.”

Officer Hanley was said to have been transported over to Morgantown hospital and suffered an injury to his leg from the crash. The officer was said to have undergone surgery for the sustained injury. As for the other driver involved in the crash, police say he was able to walk away from the impact and informed paramedics that he was okay.

#BREAKING: A police officer was flown to the hospital after a car accident in Uniontown. https://t.co/qcldUka47V

— KDKA (@KDKA) June 21, 2020

According to officials from the Uniontown Police Department, Officer Hanley was reportedly on his way to assist other officers on a call when the crash occurred. Investigators are looking in to what may have caused the crash that transpired.

When commenting on his motivation for assisting the officer in need, McLee simply pointed to the “value of human life”:

“A lot of crazy things are going on in the world and I haven’t had the best ends in life but I know the value of human life. You can’t replace it. It’s Father’s Day. I’m not sure if he has children but I know he has family and I’m pretty sure they’re glad to have him there and I’m glad he’s home, or going to be home.”

The story of quick action and a willingness to help by McLee shows that no one needs to don the blue or drive an ambulance to be a proverbial “first responder”. As evidenced in this instance, all it takes is seeing someone in distress and rendering assistance.

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