Utah County Deputy regrets rejecting act fo kindness from young boy
SALT LAKE CITY — A boy’s act of kindness is denied by a sheriff’s deputy who immediately regrets what he did and sends his apology out on social media.
A Utah County deputy in a drive-thru line at In-N-Out Burger in Spanish Fork hears a knock at his driver-side window.
He rolls down his window. A boy standing next to his window says he wants to buy the deputy’s meal.
“I’m good. Thank you, though,” Deputy Greer Haymond responds.
Later, Haymond apologized in his video for denying the boy his act of kindness and sought the public’s help in finding the kid.
“Young man, I want to apologize to you. I didn’t give you the attention, one, that you deserve, and two, I want to apologize for denying you an act of kindness. Sorry, I denied you that,” Haymond said, his voice cracking. “If anyone knows who this young man is, please reach out to me.
“I would love to take this young man out for a meal to let him know just how great a young man he is [and] just how sorry I am for denying him the opportunity because that’s what we all need right now is acts of kindness,” Haymond said.
Utah County Sheriff Spencer Cannon joined KSLNewsRadio’s Dave Noriega and Debbie Dujanovic to talk about the incident.
“I gotta hand it to this deputy for immediately recognizing what he did and trying to fix it,” Debbie said.
Sheriff Cannon said Haymond’s video has so far been viewed almost 4 million times.
“It tells me that people are thirsting for these kinds of experiences,” Cannon said.
“The deputy is, you know, a big tough guy, [but] there was a vulnerability there that I think really spoke to a lot of people. I think that’s why so many people have had such a strong reaction to it,” Dave said.
“We were just so grateful that he did this,” the sheriff said. “This is the kind of guy he is. He’s got a heart of gold. And so this isn’t unusual for him to think and act this way.
“When law enforcement misbehaves, it makes the news, and it should. That’s right that it does, but we don’t want people to overgeneralize that to think that all law enforcement are that way. I think what Deputy Haymond did and how he reacted is more representative of law enforcement than what we so often see,” Cannon said.
“Do tell,” Debbie said, “is Deputy Haymond going to have that opportunity to buy that little boy a meal?”
“Yes, he is. The little boy’s mother . . . contacted Deputy Haymond with a private message,” Cannon said. “They had a conversation, and they’re gonna get together later this week.
“Of course, we would all love to see that, but the family just felt like this is a little overwhelming and ‘We just want to keep it between us and Deputy Haymond.’ We’re gonna honor that, but it really is a touching story we’re just grateful that we got him working for us,” Cannon said.
Dave & Dujanovic can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app, a.s well as Apple Podcasts and Google Play.