LIVERMORE, CA — What started out as a mom's simple email inquiry to the Livermore Police Department turned into a birthday party of epic proportions last weekend. Nancy Larson says when she was planning her 5-year-old's upcoming party she asked the little guy for a theme and guest list, and he told her he was planning to invite the local police department to a cops-and-robbers-themed party.

"Nick has always been obsessed with everything about police," Larson told Patch. Larson said Nick, who comes from a large law enforcement family, owns every police toy and costume on the market. However, although they are a law enforcement family, they only recently moved to Livermore from San Ramon and did not personally know any of the police officers in Livermore.

Larson emailed the department and said if a patrol car happened to be free and in the area during the party, she would like to invite the officer to stop by for a quick visit to surprise her son. She said what followed was not only unexpected but "epic."

According to Larson, the police department responded to her email and said an officer would try to stop by if there were no calls for service during the party. About 30 minutes before arriving, Sergeant Steve Goard called Larson and said an officer would be stopping by shortly.

Larson said she was in total disbelief when she saw the first patrol car drive up her long driveway. It was followed by another. And another, until six cruisers and a community service car, all with police lights on, lined the driveway. Larson said Nick, who was completely surprised, was momentarily stunned to the point of being shy but soon enjoyed visiting with the officers, checking out their equipment and collecting badge stickers, bike reflectors and other swag brought by the officers. According to Larson, they even brought Nick a gift. The officers wrapped a police Lego set in white paper and each signed the wrapping.

"Thankfully, there was a lull in calls for service and several day shift officers were able to surprise Nick," Goard told Patch. "It was really touching to see how excited the kids and the family were when we arrived. The entire birthday had a police theme complete with crime scene tape, a jail, a police station, and a bank. Although we only got to visit for just a little bit, it was a real treat for us and really made our day!"

Larson said her family was absolutely overwhelmed by the police department's kind gesture, and they brought cookies and a thank you card to the station to thank the officers on Monday.