PRINCETON, W.Va. — West Virginia State Police Troopers are trained to expect the unexpected but there’s no part of State Police Academy curriculum that could have trained 1st Sgt. M.R. Crowder for what happened Monday morning.
A man walked into the Princeton State Police Detachment and told Crowder he wanted to be Secret Santa and although he wasn’t rich he thought he could help some area residents.
“He reached into his pocket and pulled out $1,000 all in $100 bills and he asked me to see if I could get the state troopers here on station and myself to conduct some traffic stops on some vehicles that we thought warranted some money, could benefit from this right before Christmas,” 1st Sgt. Crowder said.
The man did not give his name to troopers.
They left the station and began making stops. Some were on Route 460, a few others closer to Bluefield and some more in the communities of Matoaka and Lashmeet. Crowder made two stops himself including that of a young mother.
“When I got up on the car she was shaking, you could tell she was nervous and scared,” Crowder said. “I told her there was a gentlemen who provided us some money….and she began bawling, crying….it was an excellent stop.”
Crowder said what the Secret Santa did was one of the kindest things he’s seen in 21 years as a trooper.
“You’re expecting the worst, especially right on the holidays when those blue lights come up behind ya and you’re thinking, ‘here comes more money,’ but then to actually have money handed to you. It’s actually a phenomenal thing and I was just blessed to have an opportunity to do it,” Crowder said.