Stranger Gives Son Dead Father's Police Cruiser

Sam Brownlee, a deputy in Weld County, Colo., was killed in the line of duty after a police chase in 2010. His sons, Tanner and Chase, have been clinging to his memory ever since.

After learning that their father’s old Dodge Charger police car was heading to auction, Tanner made it his mission to raise enough money to purchase the vehicle. In doing so, it would represent a huge part of their father’s past that they could cherish; the boys have their dad’s motorcycle jacket, given to them the day he died, but to them, the cop car would be even more special.

Getting it, however, proved to be harder than they ever thought.

Tanner had set up a GoFundMe page. Coming into the auction, via donations and other avenues, he raised a staggering $50,000 to buy a car valued at around $12,500. That should have been enough, except he was outbid by local resident Steve Wells, who paid a shocking $60,000 for the machine. Tanner Brownlee, though, hid his disappointment with grace.

But there was a surprise in store.

Wells walked over and held up the keys to the Charger he had just purchased: “Tanner,” he said. “Here’s your car.”

For the Brownlee family, the emotion was intense. A total stranger had just bought them their dad’s old ride; having lost a husband and father nearly five years ago, this car represents everything to them: “It means so much,” Tanner cried.

As for the money raised to buy the squad car, Tanner says he will donate it all to the group “COPS,” an organization that provides services for survivors of officers killed in the line of duty.

As he drove away in his late father’s Dodge Charger, Tanner made one promise to the local law enforcement in attendance: “No donuts.”