McHenry County police spread holiday joy with Shop with a Cop

McHenry County Sheriff’s corrections officer John Turner participated in his 20th Shop with a Cop on Sunday.

Turner, who is scheduled to retire next year, said it was his final Shop with a Cop event. He said he was a “little tearful” about it being his last time.

He said the most important part of Shop with a Cop was teaching the children life lessons. Some of those lessons include “always respect your elders” and “don’t do bad things.”

He said the kids picked out toys such as Batman and Hot Wheels, but some also chose items for their parents.

“I thought it was cute,” Turner said.

Turner was among the McHenry County police officers who took children out holiday shopping early Sunday for the annual event.

Andrew Riethmiller, also a corrections officer, said it was his first time participating in Shop with a Cop.

“It’s awesome. It was great,” Riethmiller said after shopping wrapped up at Meijer and before heading to breakfast. He said his heart goes out to the kids, and it’s a good thing to be part of.

There were three Shop with a Cop stops this year, McHenry, Crystal Lake and Harvard, involving about 250 kids countywide, said John Adams, chair of the McHenry County Police Charities.

In McHenry, children arrived at Meijer early in the morning, and were provided snacks and drinks while they shopped. Afterward, they went to the McHenry Recreation Center for breakfast and visit with Santa. Many of the kids asked for Hot Wheels and Legos, Santa said.

Oakley, the McHenry Police therapy dog, was on hand at breakfast and accepted pets from the kids.

Oakley’s handler, officer Jason Sterwerf, said it was his third time being at Shop with a Cop.

“He loves it,” Sterwerf said of Oakley, adding it is fun to see the officers enjoy Shop with a Cop.

Officer Kate Zajac of the McHenry Police Department said it was her first time participating in Shop with a Cop with McHenry.

Zajac said it was special for her because she lives in the community. She said each kid has a story and they come in wide-eyed about the toys but also see if they have money to get the grownups something.

One of the children she was with said his favorite part was getting the Madden 25 video game, and he looked forward to seeing if he could build an “ultimate team” in the game.

He also was excited about a football card pack, and hoped there was an “expensive” autographed card inside.

Adams said the kids often interact with the police during bad times. But during Shop with a Cop, “this is when you see us at our best.”