To the Editor:

My name is Erica Stanchfield and I want to share the details of what my family and I experienced on I-95 in Kittery, Maine over the holiday weekend. With the way the world has been recently and the terrible backlash police officers are receiving, I understand how important it is to share positive stories.

On the evening of June 30, me, my husband, two teenage sons, and two dogs left our home in Connecticut to travel to our cabin in Maine for a family vacation. Earlier that afternoon, we took our 2018 Chevrolet Silverado to our local dealership for an oil change, tire rotation, and general service checkup to ensure we were prepared for a seven-hour road trip. Around 1:30 a.m. on July 1, we saw a message appear on the dashboard saying we would reduce to 65 mph in 150 miles.

By 2 a.m., we were crossing the bridge into Kittery, and the vehicle drastically dropped in speed and we eventually stopped moving as we got to the end of the bridge. We called AAA and they said it would take an hour to get there. Prior to arriving, they called back and said they couldn’t tow our pontoon boat and that we had to call a commercial towing company to tow the boat separately. The commercial tow company said it was $99 to hook the boat up and $5 a mile.

Meanwhile, a Maine state trooper, Thomas Welch, arrived on scene. He heard the struggles we had with finding a cab, Uber, or Lyft ride due to COVID as well as finding a hotel that would accept our dogs or weren’t already at 50% capacity. He then overheard the commercial tow company charges.

He offered to tow our boat to a safe place nearby and give all of us a ride to the closest hotel. After calling about 15 different hotels in a 20-mile radius, we finally found a Motel 6 that had a room available. He put all of us in his cruiser, towed our boat, and then gave us a ride to the Motel 6.

Without him and his generosity, I have no idea how our family would have made it to the hotel. We most likely would have traveled by foot. He truly was a life saver. As if those extremely generous deeds weren’t enough, he then texted me a half hour later to show me a picture of our vehicle finally being towed by AAA. The next morning, he texted again to check on us and ask how we were making out with our truck and/or getting a rental car.

There aren’t enough words for me to convey to Trooper Welch that could properly show our appreciation for his help. He went above and beyond to help us and could have been putting his life in further danger with the way things are in the world today. He didn’t let any of that affect his ability to be an outstanding cop and serve his community.

My plan is to submit this story to several news stations and newspapers to see if any of the media will actually share it with the rest of the world. It is too easy to show the negativity and the few in every industry that make mistakes. They don’t view them as the exception to the rule.

Many consider all cops to be that way due to the few stories that make the major media outlets. I want to compliment Lt. Baker, Sgt. Pappas, and all of their training officers, supervisors, etc. for the tremendous job they do. It shows in Trooper Welch’s behavior and due diligence. Thank you to the Maine State Police again for helping our family and for the work you do every day!

Erica Stanchfield
Terryville, Ct

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