A little over a month ago on Monday, October 29th my wife and I were                   on I- 59 driving south to our home in Metairie after a week of camping in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  What had been a routine drive turned horrific just north of Picayune when a tire on our in-tow pop-up camper blew out at about 70 mph.

The camper started fishtailing wildly and finally came to a stop jackknifing into the rear of our SUV.  We were blessed in that neither we nor our two dogs  suffered any injuries, and there were no vehicles near us to get caught up in the mayhem.

Someone seeing our situation must have called 911, because in minutes we saw a dark police SUV flashing blue lights and racing north on I-59 across the median.  Within minutes that police unit pulled up behind us and your Sgt.Brandon Penton came up to us – we were still in shock from the experience – and assured us that everything would be taken care of. In short order he arranged for two towing companies to assist us (our SUV’s rear wheel and quarter-panel were mashed in, rendering it undrivable) with getting our vehicle and trailer off the road .

The tow trucks loaded up and gone, Sgt. Penton invited us and our dogs into his unit and drove us to Enterprise Car Rental on Memorial Drive, and we eventually got home safely a couple of hours later. True to his assurance, everything was taken care of. And remarkably quickly, at that.

In a former life I spent eight years in law enforcement, and can honestly say that in all that time (plus my 30 years as a lawyer) I’ve never encountered a more professional, courteous, helpful, and impeccably groomed and uniformed law enforcement officer than your Sgt. Penton . He is a credit to your city and to your police department, and I recommend the highest honor you can bestow upon him.

Sincerely Michael McGrath Duran Sr.

Metairie La.