Citizens Grateful for Sheriff's Dept. Assistance

Sheriff John Wilson shared this letter with the Morans’ permission

We wanted to write you and share an experience we had with one of your deputies a few weeks ago. It was an overwhelmingly positive experience all around, and I know people do not hesitate to complain about law enforcement, so we wanted to be sure this experience did not go unnoticed.

Friday, Oct. 30, my wife and I were traveling to our property outside of Ludington. We were on 10 a way east of 115 when our Durango broke an axle. It happened a bit after 2100 hours, pitch black and cold. To complicate matters, we had our two large dogs with us, we were nowhere near an exit, and two hours from home.

We contacted progressive for roadside assistance, which did not go well. We were stuck. They told us that we were essentially going to have to walk to the exit after the wrecker came and got the car as the tow trucks would not be able to accommodate us, and for sure not our two large dogs. My wife decided to attempt reaching out to you guys for help. I never dreamed that you guys were going to be able to spend resources to taxi us around with the dogs. But I was wrong, thank God.

The dispatcher, whose name I do not have, was excellent and assured my wife that you guys were there to help and that she would send a wrecker right away. We had been on the phone with Progressive for an hour and still no wrecker was coming. Within minutes, your people had one en route. Beyond that, she advised us that she was going to send out a deputy to get us, and the dogs, and that they would shuttle us to a hotel in Clare. I was dumbfounded. We had prayed for a solution, and your department was the tool that the Lord used that night.

 In what seemed like no time at all, your deputy arrived. He was magnificent. I hope I am spelling his name correctly; I believe it was Guthrie. He arrived willing to help in any way possible, and his car was roasting warm. He said that he blasted the heat all the way to get to us, not sure if we had been broken down long and whether or not we were freezing. Outstanding.

Beyond that, he helped us load up some of our valuables that we did not want to leave in the vehicle. We had a lot of stuff. We got all loaded up, filled the back of his SUV with toolboxes, a chainsaw, clothes and then got my wife and the dogs in the car out of the cold. Guthrie waited with my wife in the car while I dealt with the wrecker driver. And after the wrecker left with our vehicle, he drove us all the way back to the hotel in Clare. Not to let that be the end, he proceeded to help us unload our things and asked if there was anything else, he could do for us. Incredible. By the time he was finished with us, he had spent over an hour helping us through this mess. On a somewhat humorous note, that noise that the body cam makes, the "beep beep" noise, was freaking out one of our dogs as that is the noise his collar makes just before he gets shocked leaving the yard. Deputy Guthrie took it upon himself to go and turn off the noise, even concerned about the comfort of our dogs. I am blown away.

The professionalism shown by your staff, from the dispatcher to the deputy was absolutely on point. You have some great people working for you, and we decided that we needed to reach out to you and make known the experience we had. Please thank the deputy and the dispatcher if there is a way to figure out who it was. Your people took a horrible night and showed up ready to help, turning this awful situation into another reminder of the great work you do. Thank you so very much. We are incredibly grateful. God bless and to you and your people, be safe out there! 

David and Ryanne Moran