Good Samaritans

Marshall Abrin
Legal
A flat tire stopped Catherine Saldana at the intersection of McKinney and Bagby streets. “I was scared and nervous,” she wrote.

Then Marshall Abrin drove up and offered to help.

“I told him I had called my husband,” Saldana wrote. “But I was in a dangerous spot.” About 45 minutes later, her husband arrived, but Abrin had already changed the tire.

“Marshall was so kind to me,” she wrote. “I wish there were more people like him in this world.”

Tommy Smith, Charles Turner
Public Works & Engineering
While driving home from work, Brenda Turek struck a sharp object on Loop 610, blowing out a tire on her vehicle.

Charles Turner and Tommy Smith passed by, spotted Turek’s stranded vehicle and pulled off the road. They changed her tire, Turek wrote.

“Because of these two gentlemen, I was returned to safety and touched by their kindness,” Turek wrote. “Please recognize them for helping others and their dedication to the city.”

Dennis Lindner, John Sexton
Police
While her daughters were enjoying a birthday party, Valerie Niermann left the house to get an item from her car. As she closed the car door, she realized she’d locked her keys inside.

She approached officers John Sexton and Dennis Lindner, who were providing security for the party. For the next several hours, Sexton and Lindner took turns trying to open the door with a coat hanger while watching the children at the party.

Niermann’s children became upset waiting for the officers to open the door. But Sexton and Lindner constantly reassured them. Finally, they called a wrecker, who was unsuccessful, Niermann wrote. Then the officers borrowed the wrecker’s tools and unlocked the door.

“Everyone cheered,” Niermann wrote. “Their diligence, compassion, resourcefulness and professionalism surpassed any I’ve ever seen.”

Robert Murray
Parks and Recreation
Ronald Chivers, 67, and his wife didn’t intend to spend much time in Houston. Then their motor home blew a radiator hose while on the 610 Loop.

Soon, a white pickup truck with a Parks Department logo pulled over into the grass in front of the motor home, Chivers wrote.

Robert Murray got out of the truck and offered to help. He climbed under the motor home, removed the hose and told the couple to sit tight, Chivers wrote. Soon, Murray came back, replaced the hose, added water to the radiator and followed the couple to the next exit to get the repairs completed.

“We tried to pay him, but all he’d take money for was the hose, and he gave us a receipt for that,” Chivers wrote. “What a guy! I hope all Houston city workers are like this guy.”