Police officers gift bike to Vallejo teen who walks two hours to work every day

Before this week, a Vallejo teen named Jourdan Duncan found himself having to walk two hours to work every day — four hours total — after his car broke down. Not wanting to ask for rides from friends or his father (who recently had knee surgery), Duncan has hoofed it from his home in Vallejo all the way to Pro-Form Laboratories in Benicia's industrial park since May.

One night, after Duncan finished his shift, he was walking home when Benicia Police Corporal Kirk Keffer spotted him.

"I just happened to be going down industrial when I saw him walking," Keffer told KTVU. After stopping him, the two then began talking about why Duncan was walking rather than driving.

"He said, 'So you walk from Vallejo to Benicia,' I was like, If I have no other way,'" Duncan said.

Keffer offered Duncan a ride home, and along the way, the two discussed their lives; Keffer talked about being an officer, and Duncan told Keffer that he has plans to one day join the California Highway Patrol.

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After dropping him off, Keffer and some of his Benicia Police Department colleagues decided to chip in and buy Duncan a new mountain bike to help ease his commute. With the blessing of the Belicia Police Officers Association, they were able to surprise Duncan while he was at work one Monday.

"There's not a lot of 18-year-olds out there that have this dedication," Keffer said. "We just wanted to make sure he know how much I appreciated what he's doing."

Duncan was shocked by the bike — as well as the helmet, light, and complimentary tune ups that came with it — and now calls it his "best friend."

"I love this bike," he told KTVU.

Alyssa Pereira is a staff writer for SFGATE. Follow her here on Twitter.