A Louisiana woman who walks six miles to her Walmart cashier job now has a car of her own after a Good Samaritan cop gave her a lift one day — and helped make the story public, according to a new report.
Anita Singleton, 52, of Slidell, hadn’t owned a car for 10 years, The Advocate reported. So on days that she couldn’t find a ride to work, she pounded the pavement for three hours.
She was doing just that on Monday around 5:30 a.m. when Slidell Police Officer Bradley Peck spotted her approaching a two-lane bridge over some railroad tracks.
He pulled up, and when he found out how long she had to walk, he told her to hop in for a ride, he said in a post on the police department’s Facebook page.
“We talked the whole way about life lessons, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and joked about other things,” Peck said in the post. “I learned that she is 52 years old and had as much energy as my 2-year-old.”
“I thank God everyday when I put my key in the door,” Singleton told Peck. “So I have to keep going to work no matter what.”
Peck said the determined woman’s comments gave him “hope” and taught him a “valuable life lesson.”
His post garnered more than 3,800 likes and 667 shares — and the word soon got out to local media.
Then Matt Bowers, owner of a Chevrolet dealership in town, found out.
“Well, logically, I’m a car dealer, and I made the decision that the right thing to do for the community was to give Anita Singleton a car,” Bowers told the local paper.
Singleton arrived in a patrol car at the dealership Wednesday afternoon, still wearing her Walmart vest and name tag.
Singleton could hardly believe it when she found out why she was there, according to the report.
“Really?” she asked. “Oh, thank you so very much.”
Given the option between two cars, a white Chevrolet Captiva and a dark red Traverse, she picked the Captiva.
Bowers is taking care of the insurance, taxes and registration, which will have a warranty as long as Singleton owns it, according to the report.
The lucky driver already has travel plans.
“I’ve always wanted to go on a Honey Island swamp tour,” Singleton said as she accepted the ride.
