A police officer whose gesture of generosity was captured on camera over the weekend has been credited with setting "an example for all of us."
Officer Kenya Joyner of the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) was on patrol on Saturday afternoon in Lindenwold, New Jersey, when he was flagged down by a bus driver. The driver complained that one of the passengers wasn’t wearing shoes.
Footwear is required on the bus at all times so the officer escorted the rider off the vehicle and asked the man where his shoes were.
"I don't have any," the man was quoted as saying.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Joyner then walked away from the man, disappearing from view.
A few minutes later, however, the officer returned -- and he wasn’t empty-handed.
Joyner had gone across the street to a Payless shoe store, and purchased a pair of boots for the stranger.
"I just felt like the gentlemen simply was on hard times. He wanted to ride on the bus but he couldn't afford shoes; there was no need for me to arrest him for that," Joyner told KYW-TV about the encounter.
As the Inquirer noted, little is known about the barefoot rider. The officer says he believes the man may be homeless.
Passerby Kayla Palmer caught the officer’s good deed on camera.
"That was nice of you," Palmer is heard telling Joyner in the video. "I wanna shake your hand. You’re gonna go viral!"
“Oh, come on now,” a visibly embarrassed Joyner responded with a laugh.
But Palmer was right. Her video has been watched more than 50,000 times since being uploaded to Facebook on Sunday.
"I could tell he was really humble," Palmer told the Inquirer of the police officer. "He didn't want any recognition for it."
This week, DRPA CEO John Hanson praised Joyner for his thoughtful gesture.
"I think he did the right thing. He went above and beyond. He was his best self I think in that action and he set an example for all of us," Hanson told KYW-TV.
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