Jose Flores, El Paso Police Officer, Buys Boots For 83-Year-Old Homeless Vet During Winter Storm

When a homeless man wandered into a Lowe’s store during a winter storm in El Paso, Texas earlier this month, he received much more than just a warm temporary haven.

An image that has been circulating on the Internet shows 83-year-old Charles Holder receiving a brand new pair of heavy-duty leather boots from Officer Jose Flores in the home improvement store.

“They helped me,” Holder told KFOX14. “They’re a great bunch of people; they’re very humane.”

On Jan 3., the temperature had dropped below freezing and nearly three inches of snow had accumulated, when several Lowe’s employees and customers in the store helped Holder by buying him food, finding him shelter and calling local police to help transport him, KFOX reported.

When Officer Flores arrived, he noticed Holder’s wet ragged shoes and socks and went into the store and replaced them, according to the news outlet.

Holder teared up and, in a gesture of thanks, offered Flores the treats, which were likely his dinner, KFOX reported. Flores chose not to comment on the incident.

A few months ago, a similar act of kindness went viral when an Arizona tourist snapped a photo of NYPD Officer Larry DePrimo buying boots for Jeffrey Hillman, a homeless man in Times Square on Nov. 14, Newsday reported.

“You could see the blisters [on his feet] from 15 feet away,” DePrimo told CNN describing how Hillman was shivering on the 35-degree November night. “I knew I had to help him.”

 


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