When a Rhode Island police officer noticed an overgrown yard during his routine patrol, instead of just ignoring it, he took the effort to stop by and mow the lawn for the elderly woman—winning the praise of netizens for his service to the community.
Curious to find out more about the reason behind the long grass, Caradimos first knocked on the door of the house, but got no response.
The officer then approached a neighbor in hopes to find out more about the owner of the overgrown yard. However, Amanda Goodinson, who resided across the street, said she was unaware of where the homeowner was and hadn’t seen her lately.
Caradimos then approached another neighbor who told the officer that the 73-year-old woman was fine and at work but found it difficult to find a landscaper to cut the grass.
With a desire to help, Caradimos returned to his patrol with an idea.
The officer then caught hold of a man who came through the intersection and didn’t stop at the stop sign. “I said, ‘Hey, really? I was right there,’“ Caradimos recalled. ”He got a kick out of it and he apologized. And I said ‘I’ll tell you what. Do you have a lawnmower?’”
The driver returned with a mower and the officer got to work.“I just felt like if she needed some sort of assistance or help, then why not give her a hand?” he reasoned.
On hearing the sound of the mower, Goodinson came out of her house and captured a video of the officer in uniform tending to the lawn, and shared it on Instagram. “I thought it was really nice,” she said.
Caradimos, who was unaware that he was being filmed, said: “I was focused on the grass, making sure the lines were straight.”
Needless to say, the homeowner, Ellie Kelly, was grateful to the officer for going above and beyond his call of duty.
“He just cut it,“ Kelly said. ”I was like ‘Wow’. I started to cry.”
Meanwhile, Kelly said another neighbor who heard of her struggle to find a landscaper referred her to a friend who agreed to cut her grass once every week.
