An NYPD officer is being credited with offering some Christmas kindness to a freezing homeless man by literally giving him the shirt off his back.
The New York Post reports Officer Carlos Ramos, 29, was tasked with searching for suspicious packages or activity on Manhattan’s East Side Friday morning when he encountered a shivering Robert William.
At the time, William was reportedly sitting barefoot on the sidewalk and trying to rip his shirt in half to wrap -- and warm -- his feet. William had removed his boots after getting them wet on a morning with sub-30-degree temperatures.
“I told him, ‘I have a thick sweatshirt. Why don’t you take it?’” Ramos told The New York Daily News, adding William initially refused the offer out of concern the Brooklyn father-of-three would be cold on the beat.
"He gave it to me. He said, 'Don't worry about it,'" William told The Post. "I felt good about having it."
Ramos, who is assigned to the NYPD transit bureau’s anti-terrorism unit, reportedly joined the force six years ago.
“I’ve helped out other people, especially when it’s cold,” he told the Daily News. “A nice cup of coffee, a tea, whatever seems appropriate… always wanted to help those that need help, protect the city, protect the country.”
In November 2012, another NYPD officer - Lawrence DePrimo -- inadvertently made national news when an Arizona tourist snapped a cell phone photo of him helping a homeless man put on a pair of shoes he had purchased with his money, after spotting the man, also barefoot on the sidewalk, while walking a beat.
Click for more from the New York Post.
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