Chisago County chief deputy gives shoeless veteran his boots
Body camera footage captured the moment a Chisago County Sheriff's deputy gave a shoeless veteran a pair of boots. (Chisago County Sheriff's Office)
RUSH CITY, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Chisago County Sheriff’s Office deputy is being recognized for a random act of kindness.
What began as a routine check ended with one man receiving a gift he never saw coming.
In May, a Chisago County Sheriff’s deputy responded to a call to check on a man near a gas station in Rush City. The deputy’s body camera captured the encounter and this week, the office released some of the footage on their Facebook page.
In the video, the man, who identifies himself as a military veteran, says that he’s headed to Iowa en route to Wyoming on foot with no shoes.
"My boots gave up on me last night," the man said in the video.
Later, Chief Deputy Justin Wood arrives.
"They were just having a conversation, but as I walked up I just noticed that he was wearing a pair of boot liners," Chief Deputy Wood told FOX 9.
That’s when Wood decided to act. The chief deputy went to his trunk and grabbed a pair of his new tactical boots in size 11 - a near-perfect fit.
"They’re 11, they might be a little big, but you can wear socks with them," said Wood in the video.
"Veterans serve our nation, they give the ultimate sacrifice," Chief Deputy Wood told FOX 9. "They’re a special group of people. We’ve got to take care of them, and so this was one small way to do that."
It was a small gesture that’s leaving a big impact even months later. Chief Deputy Wood has been with the Chisago County Sheriff's Office for more than 15 years. He says that he's still getting used to all the attention.
"I’d actually forgotten about this incident," said Wood. "Much to my surprise, it was posted to social media. So I was not anticipating any of this."
"We’ve had a tough run here, it’s a tough go right now for us and we recognize that the public needs us more than ever," Wood added. "And we’ve never claimed to be perfect, but we want to have every positive interaction that we can with the public and try to do as much good as we can while we’re out there."