Sam Brownlee, a deputy in Colorado’s Weld County Sheriff’s Office, was killed in the line of duty in 2010. On Thursday, his old patrol car was put up for auction.
Brownlee’s sons — Tanner and Chase — decided to bid on it, and started a GoFundMe campaign in preparation.
Tanner raised approximately $3,000 from his page, and had an additional $12,000 his father left them.
“It would mean a lot to me and my brother,” Tanner told KMGH. “We’ve been through a lot.”
The auction was to help support Concerns of Police Survivors, or C.O.P.S — an organization that aims to rebuild the lives of surviving families. The vehicle was valued at $12,500 but a man named Steve Wells made the winning bid of $60,000.
Then Wells turned around and handed Tanner the keys.
“This is just so huge,” Tanner told CBS Denver. “I mean, me and my dad built a fence and stuff, but having something I can use, and drive around that he he drove around, it just means a lot.”
Tanner Brownlee, son of a fallen Weld Co deputy, was given his dad’s patrol car after a special auction. Story at 10. pic.twitter.com/4WrQyW6nka
— Kelly Werthmann (@KellyCBS4) May 14, 2015
Watch the full report here.
