He has tattoos, and a knife and gun are strapped to his belt. She has a sweet smile and wears her hair in braids.
He is an undercover agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration; she is a soft-spoken fifth-grader at Edison Elementary in City Heights.
They made unlikely shopping partners, but yesterday they were filling up a Target shopping cart with lip gloss, blue jeans and a doll – $100 worth of whatever 11-year-old Terrina Roberts wanted.
More than 300 children were given shopping trips – and a shopping buddy – through the 13th annual Shop With a Cop. Shop With a Cop is sponsored by local law enforcement agencies, SeaWorld, Target and San Diego's Police Athletic League, and pairs children with law enforcement officers for a morning at SeaWorld and shopping at Target on Sports Arena Boulevard.
Children were selected from around the county for the event, and law enforcement officers represented city, county, state and federal agencies. The day is meant to help children who need it, and provide them a positive experience with a law enforcement officer.
After breakfast and a dolphin show at SeaWorld, the children rode with their assigned officers in a motorcade to Target.
Sirens blaring and lights on, the children, some barely tall enough to see over the dashboard, waved, wide-eyed, to people on the street. Some commandeered the loudspeaker.
For Kayla Lattig, 9, not much could top the SeaWorld dolphin show, when a police officer (actually a trainer dressed as a cop) fell into the tank.
“He was supposed to shake hands” with the dolphin, “and he fell in,” said Kayla, a fourth-grader at Libby Elementary School in Oceanside.
But then Kayla got to ride in the back seat of Oceanside police Officer Lindsay Bruce's cruiser, its lights flashing and siren screaming. The ride was a thrill, and perhaps a lesson.
“She said, 'I hope I never get arrested. The seats are hard,' ” Bruce said.
The toy section was a zoo. Cops wheeled dirt bikes and balanced stuffed animals with plastic trucks.
One Carlsbad officer put his Belgian Malinois police dog in a shopping cart. Other officers put the children in the carts.
San Diego City Schools Officer Brandon Noyes wore a Santa cap and beard for the day, and by the time he and his shopping partner, Kyle Trichel, reached the checkout line, he was hot and ready to lose the beard.
Noyes pushed the cart as 7-year-old Kyle, a second-grader at Carlton Hills Elementary School in Santee, examined his purchases. He had books, coloring books, a video game, a bike and a helmet. The helmet was Noyes's idea, of course.
“I can't wait to tell my dad I have a Pokemon mystery game. I never, ever had a Pokemon mystery game,” Kyle said as he admired the video game.
It had been a good day for Kyle, Noyes said.
“He said earlier at SeaWorld, 'This is the best day of my life,' ” Noyes said.
“And I said, 'I'm glad I could be part of the best day of your life.' ”
Elizabeth Fitzsimons:
(619) 542-4577; elizabeth.fitzsimons@uniontrib.com
