Irving Police Surprise Boy With New Bicycle

Officers credit a 10-year-old boy for helping them to fight crime in Belt Line Northgate area

Irving police have rewarded an elementary student with a new bicycle for his help in fighting crime his neighborhood.

Officers with a special task force assigned to a problem area in the city befriended 10-year-old Danny Sotero.

Officer Robert Reeves said the boy gave constant tips to police, which helped them drop the crime rate in the area by 15.53 percent.

"He'll say, 'Well, I saw these guys here doing something that you might want to check out,' so we'll go and do that," Reeves said. "Or we'll say we're looking for a guy in a red shirt, and he's like, 'Well, I just saw one running through here a second ago. He ran into that apartment.'"

Officers with the Belt Line Northgate Initiative presented Danny with a new bicycle donated by The Bike Shop at Las Colinas.

It was also a reward for becoming more engaged in school.

The officers have been mentoring Danny and are motivating him to pursue higher education.

"They'll be telling me if I don't go to school and I don't pass college or high school, I don't get to be a cop, so I need to pass college and high school," Danny said.

One of the main goals of the Belt Line Northgate Initiative has been to reestablish a sense of community in the area, something in which Danny has played a crucial role, officers said.

Meanwhile, his mother, Melanie Sotero, said she was filled with gratitude.

"Thank you for watching out for him," she said. "Thank you for caring about him, and thank you for showing him that you really are the good guys."

She said the effect the officers have had on her son will last a lifetime.

In addition to the drop in crime, the Belt Line Northgate area has also seen a significant drop in the number of emergency calls -- about 600 fewer when compared to last year.

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