TYLER, Texas — Celebrating your birthday during a pandemic can be extremely difficult. So when the Tyler Police Department found out a teen with autism wanted to celebrate his sweet 16 with them, they jumped at the chance to make his day as special as possible.
"You only turn 16 once," Tyler PD Officer, Scott Behrend, said.
Jair Egan has always wanted to be a police officer. His family contacted the Tyler Police Department to see if they would do a drive by for his birthday on Sunday, but it turned into something much bigger.
"I was hoping maybe 10 cars at the most you know, so just to make it something special," Jair's mother Kim said. "And so and then I got a hold of a couple of Facebook friends, and they knew some people, and they knew the motorcycle clubs, and the jeep clubs."
In all, more than 100 people came out to celebrate Jair's sweet 16.
"25 to 30 church people, family members, church family, people were there that we knew," Kim said. "And then like the 100 and some people were perfect strangers."
Tuesday afternoon, Jair was invited to the Tyler Police Department, to receive a special award from the officers and got a private tour of the department's vehicles, along with some friends dressed as characters from Star Wars.
"I just want to thank everybody for coming and spending my birthday with me," Jair said.