Sam Vassallo rushed to her car as soon as she finished her last final on Friday.  The senior cybersecurity major quickly put her key in the ignition, clicked on her seatbelt and took off. However, as soon as she drove she noticed that her car didn’t feel right.

“It felt unusual, like my tire had low air pressure or something, so I pulled over and called my dad,” Vassallo said. “I was trying to get home for Winter Break. I had three back-to-back finals, and it felt great to be done. But I couldn’t drive my car!”

As she pulled over to call her father, Temple University Police Sergeant David Ramos was on foot patrol, saw her in the car on the side of the road and approached.

“I just asked her if she was OK, if she needed help,” Ramos recalled.

Vassallo said she may have a flat tire. That prompted Ramos to tell her that he and other Temple University police officers would be happy to help her.

First, Temple Police Officer Manny Perdue used a car jack to lift the car's frame so that Police Officer William Egan could work and take off the flat tire and replace it with a spare. As this happened, Police Officer Jacky Tran blocked traffic. Then, Ramos noticed other tires on the vehicle with low pressure.

“I had an air compressor in my personal car, so I just filled up some of her tires and we were able to get her back on the road,” Ramos said. “I have three daughters of my own so I would want someone to help them out as well.

Vassallo made a point to go up to each of the four police officers to thank them for their service. 

“I wanted to sincerely thank them, because I do not know how to change a tire. So I was very grateful,” she said.

Ramos said that Temple Police are here for the community.

“We’re here to help any way we can,” Ramos said. “It just starts with a, ‘Hey, how are you doing? Do you need any help?’ This is our job, this is what we’re here to do.”