Methuen Police Officer Dan O’Connell, left, and Starbucks employee Rachel Menton used their own money to help a Haverhill woman, right, get home after she was stranded at The Loop in Methuen. (Photograph courtesy of Methuen Police Department)
A Methuen police officer and a Starbucks employee are being credited with helping an unidentified Haverhill woman return home safely after she was stranded at The Loop shopping center, Pleasant Valley Street, Methuen.
Methuen Police Officer Dan O’Connell and Rachel Menton, an employee of Starbucks at The Loop, pooled together $26 of their own money to provide the Haverhill woman a taxi ride home Wednesday, Sept. 7, after she was “left behind at the Loop with no money,” according to a statement yesterday from Methuen Police Chief Joseph Solomon. O’Connell responded to a report of a distraught female who “possibly needed assistance.” After speaking with the woman for about a half hour, he was “able to calm her down and offered to use his own money to pay for a taxi to get her home to Haverhill.” However, O’Connell had only $24 in cash, but a taxi ride would cost $26. To get enough money, O’Connnell went into Starbucks to make a purchase to get cash back. When he told employee Menton why he needed the cash, she gave O’Connell the difference out of her own money.
“Thanks to the generosity of Officer O’Connell and Rachel, this Haverhill resident was comforted after a stressful situation and able to get home safely,” Solomon said. “This is a fine example of the small, yet selfless gestures that our police officers make every day that make an enormous impact on the lives of people in the community. I am proud of Officer O’Connell for setting that example.”
O’Connell also learned Menton studied crime scene investigation at Florida Southwestern State College, Solomon added.