Colorado Man Buys Fallen Officer's Squad Car at Auction and Immediately Hands the Keys Over to the Family

Tanner Brownlee from Weld County, Colorado was overcome with emotion when a stranger spent $60,000 to buy him his late father's car

Tanner Brownlee from Colorado attended an auction on Wednesday night to raise money for C.O.P.S. (Concerns of Police Survivors) with one goal on his mind: to win his father's squad car.

Tanner's dad, Deputy Sam Brownlee, was killed in the line of duty after a police chase in 2010. His Dodge Charger was one of his prized possessions and 19-year-old Tanner was on a mission to buy a piece of his father's memory.

"It'd mean a lot to me and my brother. We've been through a lot," he told WKBW.  

"This is kind of the end of Sam's legacy here. It's the last tangible thing we have that he was connected to," added Sheriff Steve Reams.

Tanner had started a GoFundMe page in order to buy the car at the auction and he raised $3,000 to try and secure a treasured part of his dad. His only plan at the auction was to try and one up other bidders the best he could.

"I think I'm just going to look around, see what everyone else is doing and try to copy them," said Tanner. "Just up them by one."

Unfortunately, he had no idea how high the bidding would go. Minutes into the auction, the price of the car had soared well over $10,000, and it continued to climb. You can tell in the video that Tanner's spirits diminish bit by bit as the amount of money goes up and up, eventually hitting the winning bid of $60,000. The car was sold to a man named Mr. Steve Wells, who had been in the back of the room bidding the entire time.

Tanner applauded the amount of money his dad's car raised, because after all, it was for a good cause (C.O.P.S. provides help for family members and coworkers of officers killed in the line of duty), but he was about to have an even better reason to celebrate.

The second Steve Wells got his hand on the keys to the Dodge Charger patrol car, he turned to the grieving son who lost his father and said, "Tanner, here's your car."

We would describe the moment that Tanner realizes a stranger just bought him his late father's car, but we do not have the words, so just go ahead and watch it in the video below. But fair warning: you won't be able to see through your happy tears:

Tanner says he is going to donate the money he raised for the car from his GoFundMe page to C.O.P.S.