It was 31 years ago this very day that Mark Waggamon Sr. was sworn in to officially become a police officer. It was back in 1984 and Waggamon was the newest member of the Clarksburg Police Department.

 

Fast forward to this very morning and Waggamon has moved around a bit. After advancing to the ranks of sergeant in both the detective and shift divisions with Clarksburg, he made a move to the West Virginia State Police in – you guessed it – October of 1999. He was in the West Union detachment for 13 years before coming to the Bridgeport detachment three years ago where he holds the rank of corporal.

 

And earlier this morning, on his anniversary day, Waggamon was out celebrating the way a lot of law enforcement officers celebrate – by doing their job in a way the public never sees. Waggamon’s morning call had him changing a tire on Jerry Dove Drive of a stranded motorist. While it’s highly likely the motorist was happy, few people know of the constant good deeds of this nature that Waggamon and others wearing the uniform do on a daily basis.

 

Of course, that all changed recently for Waggamon when he happened to be off duty. While still wearing his uniform after a training session in Charleston, Waggamon was having dinner in Clarksburg. During his meal, the waitress and manager told him that a young lady there was stuck at a restaurant and in need of a ride to a local hotel after her car had broken down more than six hours from home.

 

“I told them I’d drive her over. There wasn’t any question about doing it, I just knew that’s what I needed to do whether I was technically off duty or not,” said Waggamon.

 

The young lady was on the phone with her mother in Delaware and was making plans with a Clarksburg hotel to secure a room until she could come and get her.

 

“It seemed like that was going to be it. I took her over there and that’s when there were a few problems,” said Waggamon.

 

While the mother had secured the hotel room, the hotel needed the actual card to swipe in order for her daughter – who was under the age of 21 – to check in. Considering the mother and her credit card were in Delaware that was not going to work.

 

“The girl wasn’t in tears, but it was headed that way. Honestly, I didn’t think twice. I just told them to take my credit card if they only needed it to hold the room,” said Waggamon. “I knew she was far away from home and alone and needed a safe place to stay and that would take care of it. I did that and figured that was the end of it.”

 

In a way, it was. In another very big way, it wasn’t. The mother of the daughter took to social media to tell her story and how Waggamon stepped up to help her daughter – a complete stranger – in a time of need. As one might expect, the post to Facebook has gone viral with thousands of shares, comments and likes. And Waggamon finally began realizing the scope because of the feedback he’s received since that early October encounter.

 

“How much feedback? That’s a good question. I can’t even tell you other than I’ve gotten an endless number of phone calls, text messages, private messages,” he said. “I can’t even begin to tell you how many.”

 

One message came from the West Virginia State Police Colonel. The family from Delaware contacted the office of Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. And just yesterday, Channel 12 featured him and did an interview.

 

“I’m not just saying this, but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. I still don’t,” he said. “Every officer I’ve ever worked with would have done the same thing. There’s a lot of stuff like that from the people I’ve worked with that no one ever sees, but they do it all the time. When you put on the uniform, that’s what you’re expected to do and that’s what you should do.”

 

Click HERE to read the entire Facebook post from Christie Shirey of Laurel, Delaware.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo is of Mark Waggamon filling in on duties at a recent WVU football game, while the bottom submitted photo from Christina Johnson is of him changing a tire this morning on Jerry Dove Drive.