Upper Dublin Police Donates Money To Repair Local Man's Damaged Tricycle

UPPER DUBLIN, PA — Upper Dublin Police Officer Michael Ciuffetelli remembered Jacob Brecker from when Brecker attended a junior police academy when he was younger.

So when Ciuffetelli was off duty recently and got the call from fellow officers that Brecker had been involved in a bicycle accident, he immediately wanted to lend a helping hand.

"He's very smart, he's very intelligent," Ciuffetelli told Patch in a recent interview.

The Upper Dublin Police Benevolent Association recently donated $350 toward the repairs of Brecker's bicycle — technically it's a "trike," since it has three wheels — after Brecker accidentally drove into a stopped Amazon delivery vehicle.

Brecker, 20, who has an intellectual disability and Autism, was not really hurt in the accident, but his trike suffered lots of damage — frame problems, wheel issues and other broken parts.

The PBA gave money to the Keswick Cycle bike shop in Glenside, which made the repairs to the trike.

Andrea Hunter, Brecker's mother, said she got teary-eyed when she found out the PBA wanted to pay for the trike damages.

"I just thought that was the best thing ever," Hunter told Patch. "We just said, 'thank you,' and we let them know the details."

Hunter said she had received a call from the police department about three days after the trike accident, with officers "insisting that they had to help [Jacob]."

"It's just so great," Hunter said. "I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart."

Hunter said her son couldn't be more pleased to now have his trike back again and in full working order.

"He is just the happiest person ever," Hunter said. "That's his baby. He rides it every day and, on the weekends, twice a day."

Ciuffetelli, of the PBA, said it made the police department happy to be able to help out with the repair costs, since Brecker is well known to local police.

"He's out all day long riding his bike around," he said. "That's his thing."

Ciuffetelli said the PBA raises money throughout the year through different types of events and fundraisers, and it's nice to be able to give some of that money back to the community in various ways, such as this recent donation.