Cop Robs Family of Make-A-Wish Foundation Donations

A police officer is accused of attempting to rob money given to a family by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Ronald Harris, an officer with the Memphis Police Department, was arrested after he attempted to rob a woman at the Memphis International Airport. He was off-duty at the time, but STILL. According to a police report, Harris is accused of trying to steal a paper bag which contained some St. Jude’s t-shirts (probably not what he was after) and a pre-paid Visa credit card with $1500 on it. The card was for a family as part of their Make-a-Wish grant.

A Make-A-Wish volunteer arrived at the airport with the bag containing the card and t-shirts, ready to hand it over to the family. That’s when things got ugly. Harris reportedly arrived at the airport to rob the volunteer. (According to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, they do not know how Harris knew their volunteer would be at the airport with the money.) Harris tried to take the bag twice, but was thwarted by the father of the Make-A-Wish family. Police say Harris head-butted the father and later fought with police who tried to apprehend him. Airport and Memphis Police struggled to get him into custody. He was so violent and resistant, he eventually had to be shackled with leg cuffs.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation would not reveal any further details about the family or the specifics of the four-year-old’s wish, except to say that the child has a life threatening illness.

Harris has a history of violations on his record, which will only help you feel more depressed-ragey about this story:

Harris’ personnel file contained several violations including damage to a squad car, radio violations, sick leave policy abuse, sleeping on the job, failure to get approval for additional employment, and failure to appear in court. Most resulted in a written reprimand or a short suspension. Despite a lengthy list of violations, Harris had no history of violence or behavior like Saturday’s; behavior that almost ended a wish trip before it began.

There is also video of Harris fighting with officers at the airport, which in hindsight is probably the worst place ever to try to rob someone and then run from authorities. (At what point during something like that do you go “Oh yeah, by the way guys. I’m a cop!“)

Harris has been suspended as is released on $25,000 bond. He is set to appear in court on Monday.

The good news is the family is back on the way to fulfilling their child’s wish and hopefully can focus on that instead of some turd’s lame attempt to destroy an act of kindness.