JAMESBURG, N.J. (AP) -- A New Jersey police department is looking to return the favor after a little girl asked her mother to pick up an officer's restaurant check.
Jamesburg police Officer Joseph Quinn was dining at a restaurant in Helmetta when 8-year-old Mikayla Raji started a conversation. She then secretly asked her mother to pay for his meal.
Mikayla's mother says police officers have a special connection to her: Mikayla's father, a Perth Amboy officer, was killed by a drunken driver while on duty before she was born, and her mother was also an officer.
The Jamesburg Police Department has launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for Mikayla's education. The fund has raised more than $2,400 of its $10,000 goal. Police Chief James Craparotta says he wants Mikayla to lead the department's Memorial Day parade.
