Police officer helps homeless family found sleeping in car

TAUNTON, Mass. — A rookie police officer in Massachusetts helped a family after he found them sleeping in a car in Taunton.

Around 2:30 a.m. Monday, Taunton police officers were doing their regular patrol when they found a car with a man inside parked in the Fore Kicks Sporting Complex parking lot.

“They located a male party sleeping in the driver side and a female in the passenger side. In the back of the truck, 2 children, age 2 and 3 years old,” said Taunton Police Department Lt. Paul Roderick.

Police say mom, dad and the children are homeless and were living out of their Chevy Silverado.

The sight of it had the two Taunton officers heartbroken.

“Our new officer took it upon himself to make arrangements because they had no place to stay, because it was cool in the evening,” said Roderick.

That officer is Leonardo Almeida, who just graduated from the Police Academy. The 25-year-old called a local hotel to see if they had a room available.

“They explained to the front desk, out of the goodness of his own heart, he paid $190 to stay at the evening,” said Roderick.

Dad told police his mom sold the house recently and they didn’t have a place to go.

Almeida didn’t even think twice about paying. He never even mentioned his kind gesture to his bosses.

“I’m proud of James Olivera, the Field Training Officer, and Leonardo, my opinion, he's a humble man and cut out for this job,” said Roderick.

WFXT has reached out to hotel management for more information on the officer's act of kindness, but no one responded to our phone calls or email.

As for the children, police say they look healthy. Officers have reached out to DCF and DTA, which is standard procedure.

Cox Media Group