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After Someone Breaks A 6-Year-Old Park Forest Boy's Bike, A Police Officer Goes Above And Beyond To Fix It

PARK FOREST, Ill. (CBS) -- This touching story caught our attention after we saw the images – security video of two suburban police officers going above and beyond to fix a little boy's broken bike.

As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported Thursday night, there's always something about a kid and his first bike. Cole Collins, 6, grips the handlebars as he tries riding without training wheels.

"It helps me get faster and faster and faster," Cole said.

Yet on Wednesday, his bike was wrecked. One of the pedals was lying in the grass, and the back tire was bent to the point of being misshapen.

"One of the wheels was bent and the training wheels were broken," Cole said.

A neighbor with mental health issues destroyed Cole's bike – throwing it on the ground during a disturbance.

Cole: "I was kind of getting mad and sad."

Terry: "Why were you so sad?"

Cole: "Because my bike was broken."

Park Forest police Officer Jennifer Keith was on duty that day.

"So we responded, we spoke to the mom, and she didn't want to take any action against that person," Keith said.

Yet Officer Keith could see how the wrecked bike made Cole feel.

"You could just see it in his face that like, his heart was broke," Keith said. "That was his bike, and he wanted his bike in the condition it was in the day before."

A lot of work was needed to get the Huffy bike running again. But Officer Keith and her partner were up to the task.

They loaded up Cole's bike in the cruiser, and they hit up the bike impound – the place "where we put bicycles that were abandoned or we document for incident reason," Keith said.

And surveillance video shows the cops hard at work.

"I let the Sgt. Moore do more of the changing of the parts," Keith said.

The officers repaired, exchanged, and screwed in new bike parts in the back of the Park Forest police station – in between calls. Hours later, the job was complete.

Officer Keith even took the bike for a spin herself to make sure the bike was sturdy. And it was.

"Thanks for sharing, because I definitely rode it around here make sure it worked," Officer Keith told Cole.

Cole is just happy his bike is back.

"Thank you for fixing my bike," he told Officer Keith.

"You're welcome," she replied.

But for Officer Keith and the department, it's bigger.

"Our intent is like, want to build a relationship with kids, because those are the people that we intend to see in the community later," she said.

And just like he'll remember his first bike, Cole will remember his first interaction with police.

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