OKC Police Officers Deliver Birthday Cake For Stranded Woman

Police help stranded drivers all the time, but rarely do they encounter stranded wheelchair riders.

Officers came to the rescue of one stuck rider this weekend and made her day by what they did next.

“I can’t walk very far because of the deterioration of my knees,” said Carol Richardson, who uses a motorized wheelchair to run errands like the one this past Saturday. “I wanted to have a cake for my birthday.”

Not just any cake would do for the woman who turned 75 years old on Sunday. It had to be cheesecake.

“It’s my favorite piece of desert,” added Richardson.

Richardson couldn’t find anyone to drive her to the Wal-Mart, more than a mile from her home, so she decided to take her wheelchair. She traveled close to mile going down Meridian and Reno before her wheelchair broke down. 

As it turns out, it was out of juice and needed a charge, but the charging cord was damaged. Callers to 911 described Carol as crying with her hands in her lap.

OCPD Officers Amy Hanson and Travis Vernier responded to the call.

“She said ‘Officer, I’m having a really bad day. I could use a hug.’ So I gave her a hug,” said Vernier.

Then the officer loaded up the dead wheelchair and took Richardson to her original destination.

“I wasn’t a criminal. I was just being transported by a lovely person,” said Richardson.

The officers ended up buying her a cheesecake from Wal-Mart.

“That’s all she was talking about was getting a cake,” said Hanson.

“They were very courteous and very polite,” said Richardson.

A story has gone viral on social media with many people contacting OCPD wanting to give Richardson a card.

A News9 viewer has a motorized wheelchair he’d like to donate to the elderly woman too.

Carol says her wheelchair needs a new power cord. She has also made a promise to her new friends in blue.

“I’m not going to be on the street anymore in this chair,” said Richardson.