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Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

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Camas woman repays police lieutenant’s kindness

He helped her and her young daughter when their car stalled

By , Columbian Breaking News Reporter
Published:
2 Photos
Kimberly Butterfield and her daughter Kiley, 4, were stranded when their truck broke down last week, but they got some help from a Vancouver police lieutenant.
Kimberly Butterfield and her daughter Kiley, 4, were stranded when their truck broke down last week, but they got some help from a Vancouver police lieutenant. Photo Gallery

Kimberly Butterfield was on her way to her Camas home with her 4-year-old daughter Thursday afternoon when her pickup truck stopped working near 192nd Avenue and Southeast First Street.

Butterfield, 26, called her three brothers, uncle and dad for help, but no one was available. Someone stopped to help her push the truck but left before she could get it entirely off the roadway.

“I was relying completely on the kindness of strangers,” she said.

While nearly all available police officers were on the hunt for Jack Raymond Yancey, a suspect in a fatal stabbing, Vancouver police Lt. Scott Creager was out and about responding to 911 calls. Having spotted Butterfield’s dilemma, Creager stopped and helped push Butterfield’s truck the additional 20 feet to get it into a parking lot.

Once in the lot, Creager gave her a water bottle and handed her some napkins for her daughter, Kiley, who had made a mess of some ice cream.

“He probably saw my red, sweaty face,” Butterfield said. “I probably looked like I really needed it.”

Creager asked if she was OK and offered to give her a ride home. She declined and a friend took them home.

Though it was a small act, the interaction changed her day, Butterfield said.

“To me, he was just so nice,” she said. “It was such a personal touch.”

Butterfield later learned her truck broke down because it had run out of gas.

On Monday, Butterfield stopped by the agency’s east precinct to drop off two bottles of water: one to replace the bottle Creager gave her and the other for the next person who needs help.

“I didn’t expect that,” Creager said. “If everybody was like that, I’d work myself out of a job.”

He said the interaction is a good reminder that every time a police officer has contact with a resident, there is an opportunity to have a positive effect.

“I just thought, if that was my sister, what would I want a passing police officer to do for her?” he said. “I just did what I would hope anyone would do.”

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Columbian Breaking News Reporter