Officer Praised for His ‘Human-to-Human’ Response to Enraged Man, Witness Moved to Tears

(Courtesy of Michelle Mokszycki)

A woman in Texas called the police when her family saw a man in a fit of rage sitting at a Starbucks table by himself. The officer who arrived moments later had such an impactful response that the woman was “moved to tears.”

Michelle Mokszycki snapped a photo of the interaction between the angry man and a Garland police officer, Alton Reese, on Sept. 10 and posted it on Facebook. Since then, the picture and Mokszycki’s testimony has garnered a lot of attention on social media.

(Courtesy of Michelle Mokszycki)

“[W]hat an answer to a prayer he was,” Mokszycki said of Reese, speaking to NBC 5. “He came and sat at the table with the gentleman, and he got eye-to-eye level.”

Mokszycki marveled at the quick de-escalation and shared what she witnessed on Facebook. The enraged man was “yelling and very upset,” she explained. “He appeared unkept and homeless.”

She and her family felt sorry for him and dialed 911, then waited in the parking lot to “make sure this man was treated humanely.” Officer Reese “calmly asked the upset man what was going on,” Mokszycki continued, adding, “I was moved to tears at how the officer respected this man and made it clear that he was there to help him.”

Police Officer Alton Reese of Garland, Texas. (Courtesy of Garland Police Department)

Reese, who has been an officer in his home town of Garland since 2014, earned the stranger’s trust; the troubled man left calmly, with no further intervention needed.

Justifying his response, Reese explained in a video that was posted on the department’s YouTube channel that he simply spoke “human to human” to him that day. “I kind of stepped out of actual police work and stepped more into, like, a personal, human form,” he said.

The officer added that his aunt suffered from a mental illness, which lent empathy to his compassionate interaction on Sept. 10.

The morning after posting her anecdote on Facebook, Mokszycki awoke to a frenzy of responses. To date, the post has been shared over 28,000 times.

(Courtesy of Garland Police Department)

Speaking to The Epoch Times via social media, Mokszycki expressed surprise. “It’s amazed me how far and fast this story spread,” she said. “My husband and I just wanted to get the story out and people to realize there’s a lot of good in the world.”

“We also wanted to make sure the chief of police knew what a good job the officer did,” she added.

Reese, who doesn’t have a social media account, was overwhelmed too by the response to the post as he received text messages and pictures from people.

The officer later lamented that the trust between law enforcement and the public “seems to have gone away a little bit” in recent times. “I want to bring that back,” he told NBC 5. “I want my community to know we are there for them and to help them in their time of need.”

(Courtesy of Garland Police Department)

Garland police are locally renowned for their kindness. In July, Officer James Brezik was likewise moved to help after a collision with a young mother: She crashed into his patrol car after pulling out of a gas station. Both cars were totaled.

Brezik, learning that the mom and her partner had lost their jobs, had two babies, and were a month behind in rent payments, chose not to write her a ticket. Additionally, he also started a collection among his colleagues, raising enough money for one month’s rent and a $450 gift card for groceries for the young family.

(Courtesy of Garland Police Department)

“I work with an amazing group of people,” Brezik, himself a father of three, explained in a video that was posted on the department’s YouTube channel. “They really stepped up.”

“I know y‘all have families, y’all didn’t have to,” the mother expressed, through tears. “I’m really grateful.”

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