Son of fallen officer in Colorado receives dad’s squad car at auction

There are few things in this world that are better than random acts of kindness. Just ask Tanner Brownlee of Greeley, Colorado, who was recently given his dad’s retired police squad car by a complete stranger at an auction.

Brownlee’s father, Sam, was a Weld County Sheriff’s deputy who was killed in the line of duty in 2010. Only 15 years old when his father was slain, Tanner and his younger brother have longed for something the two of them can use.

Enter Greeley rancher Steve Wells and the 2010 Dodge Charger that was once the patrol car of the late Deputy Brownlee. Valued at $12,500 entering the auction, Tanner was hopeful that he could purchase the car at a reasonable price. When the price of the car exceeded his budget, Tanner resigned himself to walking away without the vehicle.

That is, until Wells presented Tanner and the Brownlee family with the keys to the car.

“[Tanner’s father] put time and work into it. He drove it every day, and so to have something like that will be bigger than a lot of things I could have gotten,” Tanner said.

The $60,000 Wells paid for the car will go to COPS, the Concerns of Police Survivors, a national organization that offers emotional support services to the families of fallen officers.