Texas officer helps student get back on the road in a big way

Officer Jason Borne. (Fox 7)

An Austin, Texas, police officer went beyond the call of duty to help an 18-year-old stuck on the side of the road. He bought him new tires and is now raising money to help fix his car.

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An average day on patrol for Highway Enforcement Unit Officer Jason Borne ends with giving back.

One of the worn tires. (Officer Jason Borne via Fox 7)

"Solve so many problems with the simplest gesture. Anything that you can do, could really restore hope for people that maybe were hopeless or whatever else," Borne says.

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His name might sound familiar. Like the movies, Borne is always ready to take action. Tuesday morning he was called out to help a stranded motorist who had a blow-out. It turned out to be an 18-year-old on his way to school.

"The wear on the tires had gone through the rubber, through the wire mesh and into the sub-layer before it just exploded while he was driving down the highway. 183 is a 65-mile-per-hour highway. It was right at the Mopac flyover, so it was a very dangerous location," says Borne.

Borne had the 16-year-old car towed to a shop, where the front two tires were replaced. He and his partner Tommy Sawin split the cost. Then they sent the teen off to school with a case number for a tardy note.

"I mean, I have three kids. I would not send my own kids down the road with, you know, tires in his shape and I wasn't going to send somebody else's," says Borne.

Which is why he is going beyond that. Borne and Sawin have already raised enough money to fix the car's alignment issues. They plan to take care of that next week while the teen is at school.
If donations keep coming in, they'll also fix unrepaired collision damage. Or they'll end up buying him a new car for college.

"Money can't take away childhood cancer, money can't take away so many things in this world but it can take away stress, it can take away bald tires, it can take away some bills and some repairs. So I've really taken that to heart," says Borne.

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