KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Some elderly and disabled neighbors on the east side are praising the actions of police officers, who they say went above and beyond the call of duty to help a woman whose home had been burglarized and ransacked.
Early Tuesday morning, Anita Alvery, 83, returned to the Lawndale Heights apartments near 14th & Topping after spending two weeks at Truman Medical Center.
While she was away thieves tore apart her home to the point where she couldn’t get inside with her wheelchair.
Officers were determined to do what they could to help the woman. Alvery doesn’t have family in town and didn’t want to stay in a hotel. As word spread over the police radio, a dozen officers helped the woman clean up spoiled food, get her medicines sorted and pick up her clothing.
Neighbors in this senior community say they were impressed by the caring and compassionate actions of so many police officers.
“They made sure she was ok,” said Leroy Kimber, a neighbor. “They wanted to make sure she was taken care of. They even went and got her a remote for her TV and possibly a converter box. They did an awesome job.”
One sergeant did buy Alvery a new digital converter and remote for her television out of his own pocket so she could sit and watch television without hurting herself.
Officers tell FOX 4 News it’s not unusual for cops to do things like this on their own. Officers often make donations for victims; it just doesn’t usually make headlines.
“I think when officers hear that they can help in some way or fashion some victim, I think they do whatever they can to help those people,” said Sgt. Fred Phillips of the East Patrol Division. “I think they saw or heard someone in need that they could help with, and they responded on their own without being called to the scene, just so they could lend a hand.”
Alvery declined to appear on camera. She told FOX 4 News she just wanted to rest and return her life to normal.
The burglary is an ongoing investigation. And the only action that would make officers happier than the smile they put on this elderly woman’s face would be to arrest the thugs responsible for tearing her home apart.
