WARNER — An 87-year-old veteran stranded after a tractor-trailer rig side-swiped and disabled his pickup made it “home” for Thanksgiving — with a little help.

Warner Police Officer Bryan Center said he had to convince Clifford Jester, a black man from Albuquerque who told Center he didn’t trust white police officers, to trust him.

“He (Center) turned out to be an angel,” said Gregory James, the husband of Jester’s niece. The Maryland couple was with family members in Virginia when Jester ran into trouble.

James said when the family realized Jester’s situation ,”We didn’t know what we were going to do. God works in ways that are wondrous.”

Jester, exhausted after driving from Albuquerque and stopping only for gas, met Center about 1 a.m. Saturday at the Fiesta Mart in Warner, just off Interstate 40.

Jester’s Ford Ranger pickup had a bent and twisted wheel. It had scrape marks all down the driver’s side and was “cutting out real bad,” Center said.

“His tires were spinning, and he was about to run over some people in the parking lot.”

Jester, an independent man, said he wanted to get his pickup to the nearest Ford dealer, get it fixed and get back on the road to Norfolk, Va. The patriarch of the family was headed to his sister’s home in time for Thanksgiving.

He hadn’t slept for at least 24 hours and showed signs of exhaustion, police said.

“He was bound and determined to drive — and I was bound and determined not to let him,” Center said.

Center was backed up by state troopers who advised the man needed rest.

Center convinced Jester to go to the only motel in Warner. His mixed-chow dog, Bluekee, was allowed to stay with him.

Jester’s determination to drive on to Virginia was fortified by the fact he did not want to leave his beloved dog.

Family members begged him via the phone to get on a plane and leave the dog and his disabled truck with Center, who had offered to take care of them.

Bluekee is being cared for at the Warner Dog Pound. Center is visiting him daily, walking and playing with him some when he’s not on duty.

Jester’s family booked Jester on a flight from Tulsa to Norfolk. Center got four hours sleep before he had to get up at 4 a.m. to get Jester to the Tulsa airport for a 6 a.m. Sunday flight.

Center drove his vehicle, saw Jester off on the plane and rushed back to Porter early Sunday morning. An ordained preacher, he’s the youth pastor at the Baptist church in Porter. And Sunday, the minister was away and Center was to deliver the Sunday message.

Center says he didn’t do anything special.

“I feel that was what I was supposed to do,” he said, adding he didn’t do anything any Christian wouldn’t have done.

Few agree with him.

“We had the happiest time we ever had (when Jester arrived in Norfolk) — He is the patriarch of our family,” Diann James said. “And it would have been a horrible thing if he had not been taken care of so wonderfully.”

Family members had been worried when he wasn’t on his scheduled flight. The airlines assured them he was on the next flight.

“We were so delighted when that plane landed and he was on it,” James said.

Jester talked with Center on the phone upon his arrival. Because Center had done so much, Jester figured Center might be able to find his luggage lost by the airlines. Center chuckled.

Center’s boss, Warner Police Chief Terry Thompson, said Center went above and beyond the call of duty. He also said that it didn’t surprise him at all.

“It’s awesome to have an officer to be that conscientious,” he said, smiling.

The tractor-trailer rig didn’t stop — but Center did. And Jester’s family is convinced God sent the right person along just at the right time.



Reach Donna Hales at 918-684-2923 or Click Here to Send Email