APD officers purchase bikes for children of woman caught in IRS scam

AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - Two Austin Police Department officers went above and beyond the call of duty to help a family caught in a scam.

On Thursday, April 4, APD officers Casey Kazan and Ross Adeli received a call from a woman who said she had been contacted by someone claiming to be the IRS and told she needed to pay money to avoid being arrested.

"Essentially she was scammed out of money she was using for her family to move," Kazan said. "She was told to put some money on some Google cards and that's essentially how her money was stolen."

Kazan and Adeli both spent time calming the crying and frustrated woman down. The next day, they decided to turn her frown upside down.

"We took the report, and the next day we bought her children some bikes," Kazan said. "We saw a good opportunity to intervene and that's what we did."

The officers took the children two bikes and some teddy bears.

"The kids were thrilled," Adeli said. "They had just got home from school, they both dropped their bags, and the girl, when she received the teddy bear, she instantly named it."

Unfortunately the officers ran into a small issue: the kids had never ridden or owned a bike before. So Kazan and Adeli also gave the kids impromptu bike lessons to make them feel confident while riding.

"The mom instantly started crying," Adeli said.

Kazan and Adeli say it was rewarding to see this family smile, but in the meantime, they're preaching how to avoid scammers and stay safe.

"We want to show that we support you and are here for you no matter what the issue is," Adeli said.