CHP Officer Gets Kudos for Changing Flat for Woman on a Remote Stretch of 101

CHP Officer changing a tire.

CHP Officer changing a tire. [Photo by Richard McMahan]

Simple acts of good will-picking up someone’s dropped keys, bringing cookies to a neighbor–they aren’t earthshaking but they reassure our bruised hearts that the world can also be tender and kind. In dark times, we all need a drop of that honey to stir into the bitter cup that sometimes we have to face.

On May 4, a reader, Richard McMahan, driving northbound on Hwy 101 between Myers Flat and Weott saw a kindness they wanted to document–CHP Officer Evans was stopped helping a woman whose tire had gone flat.

McMahan caught a photo and passed it to us saying, “[I] just wanted to send it out to you to maybe show our community that during this time our local highway patrol gives a help in hand to people in need.”

Kudos to the officer for pitching in to help and Kudos to Richard for taking the time to acknowledge the officer’s courtesy.

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37 Comments
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Karen😁
Guest
Karen😁
3 years ago

If you can’t change your own flat tire, AAA is cheap and it’s value immeasurable

Meee
Guest
Meee
3 years ago
Reply to  Karen😁

Unless you in a dead zone for you cell phone then it is worthless.

Cudis to the officer.

Dan F
Guest
Dan F
3 years ago
Reply to  Karen😁

You don’t NEED Triple A!!! Any insurance should have a Towing/Roadside service Policy for a few $$$ extra!!! While Triple A wants nearly double what the rest want to include towing etc!!! Don’t get ripped off trying to be safer!!!

tax payer
Guest
tax payer
3 years ago
Reply to  Dan F

actually those ‘tow services’ from insurance companies dont really work. most tow companies dont take most of them. like if you have allstate and you try and use the tow from them. the tow truck driver will not accept it.

Driven
Guest
Driven
3 years ago
Reply to  tax payer

The tow truck driver may not take it, but I have never had trouble getting reimbursed by my insurance company.

tax payer
Guest
tax payer
3 years ago
Reply to  Driven

what insurance company
and another reason to carry cash or a way to pay the tow man

Eye roll
Guest
Eye roll
3 years ago
Reply to  Karen😁

No cell service in that spot. 🙄

Dennis Myers
Guest
Dennis Myers
3 years ago
Reply to  Karen😁

A CHP officer did the same for my wife a couple of years ago. Late at night along 101 in Mckinleyville. She told him she had called for help and he changed it anyway. He said he didn’t want her sitting alongside the highway alone late at night. Just the kindness these young men and women have is heartwarming.

Michael Gilmore
Guest
Michael Gilmore
3 years ago
Reply to  Karen😁

Well done officer Evans! You are a good man. Thank you for your service.

Lock down
Guest
Lock down
3 years ago
Reply to  Karen😁

The only thing with AAA is it takes usually 1 to 1:30 hours or more for them to get to you. Depending on where they are on the road. I know I have AAA.

Swine
Guest
Swine
3 years ago

Ive had chp either not help me or stand there and watch without offering a hand more than 4 times… What a buncha sexists… Where is his mask?

Marc
Guest
Marc
3 years ago
Reply to  Swine

Meaning you can change your own tire, but expect someone else to do it for you?

Do you not realize that, if they were standing there it was because they placed their patrol car with emergency lights flashing between you and oncoming traffic in order to protect you while you so capably changed your own tire?

Jdjdjdjdjd
Guest
Jdjdjdjdjd
3 years ago
Reply to  Swine

Well that sucks for you, but this was awesome of this guy! He is changing a tire for someone and looks 6 feet away. Im all for the mask [edit]

Lady guest
Guest
Lady guest
3 years ago

Not to be a Debbie downer….but I thought Officers couldn’t change tires and what not. 🤔..safety reasons for them or something. But how sweet.

When rich in humboldt
Guest
When rich in humboldt
3 years ago
Reply to  Lady guest

Probably had to do with she was a female and driving what looks to me a Mercedes Benz or bmw 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

yesmeagain
Guest
yesmeagain
3 years ago

Some years back I had a flat on 101 about a mile from the Phillipsville exit. I am a klutzy person and didn’t want to try to change it myself. At that time I did not have a smart phone with a locator. But I’ve had AAA for a million years and find them “invaluable” indeed — except that in the past decades they’ve apparently farmed out their dispatch system to “independent contractors” working from home — their homes often being hundreds of miles away. (I’ve had this confirmed by AAA truckdrivers, who have to deal with the same communications problems as the customer.) These dispatchers rely on GPS and map services rather than real maps, let alone any kind of local knowledge. To make a long story as short as I can, this dispatcher was completely stumped because I could not give her the name of a “city” that she could identify. I was on a major highway, I could give her the closest exit number on that highway, AND the mile marker — and she still couldn’t find it. She actually gave up. I called again, and the second dispatcher promised she found it and would send someone out. I waited for about 1-1/2 hours, and finally was “rescued” by a highway patrolman — might have been the same guy — who changed my tire.
The second chapter is that when I made a complaint to AAA, I received a call from a very nice customer service person who apologized profoundly and assured me what a valued customer I am, but who avoided any actual addressing of my complaint. The dispatchers are inadequately trained, totally reliant on digital systems — which in my experience are often faulty, even in urban areas let alone in rural areas — we all have a story about this, some of them quite funny — AND they have NO human back-up. They can’t say, “Excuse me,, I’ll ask my supervisor,” because they have no supervisor, or if they do, that supervisor has no better information than the dispatcher.
I hate the fact that Google tracks my every move when I have the locator on, but when I’m driving I keep it on,, anyway, just in case.
Thanks, CHP Officer Evans! And no thanks, technology.

Karen😁
Guest
Karen😁
3 years ago
Reply to  yesmeagain

I have had AAA for about 40 years and recieved nothing but prompt excellent service from them many times. The only exception was one time Rotbergs, the Redway contractor, refused to tow my friend’s vehicle (I was a passenger). AAA apologized when I complained and made Rotbergs write me a letter of apology.😁

Shaka
Guest
Shaka
3 years ago

Glad you got that off your chest

tooter turtle
Guest
tooter turtle
3 years ago

I’d change her flat!

road weary
Guest
road weary
3 years ago

Thing got more sketch in Southern Humboldt when Redway Towing stopped contracting with AAA, increasing wait times, sometimes very long.

Karen😁
Guest
Karen😁
3 years ago
Reply to  road weary

Yes but Clydes is nicer & better in my opinion & experience.

New AAA rocks
Guest
New AAA rocks
3 years ago
Reply to  Karen😁

Way Nicer and not a rip off willits tire now has a driver stay in redway great service. AAA operators thought redwood tow were assholes and rude even to little ole lady’s

Ex EMT
Guest
Ex EMT
3 years ago

Get going Richard,
Three is a crowd.😉

guest
Guest
guest
3 years ago

Innovative way to meet a man with an “essential” job during a time when the health cop has made dating illegal?

tax payer
Guest
tax payer
3 years ago

hey if i drop my keys i do not want anyone else to touch them. please dont. second that car looks like a front wheel drive car and you are not supposed to put a doughnut spare tire on a drive wheel (only full sized spares) so now she can sue him when her transaxle goes out

Ex EMT
Guest
Ex EMT
3 years ago

You don’t need AAA when you have DDD.😉

Just sayin'
Guest
Just sayin'
3 years ago
Reply to  Ex EMT

😆😂🤣

mj
Guest
mj
3 years ago

So True!

Some Random Guy on the Internet
Guest
Some Random Guy on the Internet
3 years ago

Obviously, hot girls get all the attention, when standing by a C Coupe in a clingy dress…

Thanks for holding his, er, interest, while we all speed by in our loaded up Uhauls and with full trailers…

BotThatNeverSleeps
Guest
BotThatNeverSleeps
3 years ago

Did he change the tire before or after asking if she had weed in the car lol.

I love these glamorous cop stories, such a load of shit. He had zero intent of helping you when he pulled over.

FTP

John Henry
Guest
John Henry
3 years ago

I had two flat tires very close to each other near Weaverville. Needless to say I was out of spare tires. A CHP gave me and one of my tires a ride to Weaverville to get a tire and I don’t have tits or wear a skirt. The CHP always seems to be friendly and helpful. It is city police that are very rude and treat everyone like they are a criminal.

Dennis
Guest
Dennis
3 years ago

This is not about AAA or cell service it’s about acts of kindness and caring. Thank you officer Evans

loyal customer
Guest
loyal customer
3 years ago

thats more than hummel tire in fortuna did for me the other day

Lurch
Guest
Lurch
3 years ago

Women should be able to change their own tires. The whole damsel in distress thing is so 1950″s…
And where are the freaking masks..

No shaming please
Guest
No shaming please
3 years ago

Well, maybe women should be able to change their own tires, at the very least have a spare tire, lug wrench, jack stand, know where they’re located & if there’s a trick to accessing.
Although we may “know how” doesn’t necessarily mean we “NEED To” just to prove we’re not damsels in distress. It happened to me on I-80 by Reno in a spot that has no shoulder to get out of the way of the flurry of speeding cars & trucks at 5 pm on Friday of a holiday weekend. A hoe from a landscaping truck flew out of the back & freakily landed In my lane, slicing the driver’s side tire. It was scarey for this damsel! Lucky for me, a wonderful man changed the tire risking his life because of the location. It would have been impossible to maneuver a tow truck at that spot.

I make sure to have towing on my insurance policies because I NEVER want to change a tire – EVER. If I don’t have to, I won’t. And I doubt I have enough strength in my hands to adequately tighten the lug nuts & that would lead to even bigger problems.

Don’t judge if a woman asks for help (that’s a huge risk in itself) & if you see a damsel in distress, do the right thing.

Be safe out there everyone.

Andrew OHara
Guest
3 years ago

Hate to point to “times past,” but we used to do often this for women, the elderly and others in need on a regular basis. In our regular uniform. Good for this officer, but it’s Interesting how things change and that doing it gets a big hooplah when an officer does it now.