Sarah and Charlyce Poindexter, a pair of retired Georgia sisters with a shared love of road trips, were on their way to Bentonville, Ark., when disaster struck in Memphis.
Lost and distracted, the sisters were trying to figure out how to get back on the highway on March 24 when Sarah slammed on her brakes to avoid running a red light, but to no avail. She skidded into the intersection, breaks squealing, and slammed into a pickup, which collided with another car.
Charlyce, 64, was in tears, and it seemed like their trip was over -- that is, until the cops showed up.
One of the officers unloaded their bags from the car, loaded them into his own and took both the women and their dog to the airport to rent a car, all while reassuring them that everything was going to be all right.
"These two policemen, they truly rescued us," said Sarah, 62.
Officers Camron Briggs and Jason Pynkala were so kind, efficient and reassuring to the Poindexter sisters that Sarah drafted a letter to Mayor A C Wharton commending the officers she said were "of the highest caliber."
Even in Georgia, Sarah said, she's encountered a lot of bad publicity about Memphis, but every person she met in the Bluff City -- from the police to the hotel staff to people on the streets -- were some of the nicest she's ever come across.
They even spent two extra days touring the city when they came back three weeks later to pick up their car, and fell even further in love, Sarah said.
MPD spokeswoman Sgt. Karen Rudolph said there's no policy requiring or prohibiting chivalrous acts like those of Briggs and Pynkala.
"It's very common that officers go above and beyond their duties regardless if it's a ride home, a warm meal, groceries for a family," Rudolph said in an e-mail. "Often these acts of kindness are never brought to light or are overlooked; mainly because we do these things because we care and it's just what we do."
Copyright 2013 - The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service