Fountain father gets belated, much needed, Christmas gift

Leonard Thomas thought he was going out for lunch with a few officers he calls friends.

“We didn’t know, nobody said we was coming here,” said Leonard Thomas, car recipient.

Years ago, I actually pulled him on a minor traffic stop. Ever since then, we fostered a relationship,” said Knoll Mayer, Fountain Police Department detective.

Turns out those officers had something else up their sleeves. Instead of stopping at a restaurant, they stopped at Kuni Lexus in Colorado Springs.

“I thought maybe they had to stop by to see somebody they know or something?” Thomas said.

It was all for a gift he’ll never forget: A new car, all thanks to a complete stranger’s trade-in.

“It turned out to be a lot more than I thought it was going to be. And to see the faces of the kids was really, really, it’s a feel good story,” said Eral B. Hubbard, who traded the vehicle in several weeks ago.

Thomas, his wife and four kids were victims of a Craigslist scam about a year and a half ago.

Eventually, he had to give up his car, but his story never left the minds of Fountain police officers.

“It’s been a really good relationship, he’s worked really hard, stayed at the same job. His mom has to take him back and forth to work,” Mayer said.

So as part of Operation Blue Santa, officers called a few other friends and found a spare car at Kuni Lexus.

“I reached out to him on the phone and within three hours we had the car,” said Fountain police Officer Don Kling.

We found the car in our used car lot, we checked it out, checked out beautifully,” said Ed Baur, Kuni Lexus general manager.

Police called it a small feat for these officers, but it is a big gift for Thomas.

As part of Operation Blue Santa, officers delivered Christmas gifts to over 125 other families in the Fountain and Colorado Springs areas.