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Kids shop with cops for Christmas gifts

Story Created: Nov 21, 2009 at 8:29 PM EDT

Story Updated: Nov 23, 2009 at 2:38 PM EDT

NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. (WKTV) - Fifty area children went shopping Saturday with a cop! Members of the Thomas M. Lindsey Foundation walked the aisles of Target Saturday morning in their police uniforms with kids at their sides. The fifty children were all given $100 to shop with. They all basically shopped for Christmas presents, not for themselves, but for family members.

Utica Patrolman David Matrulli says it was like Christmas for him. He said, "It was great to see the kids, they loved it, big smiles on their faces, like Christmas morning I'd say, running through the store, hey let's get this, let's get that , it was really great, it was great."

The money was raised from the Brothers Forever Ride this summer in Utica in honor of Officer Lindsey as well as from the Thomas Lindsey Memorial Golf Tournament. Utica Police Sgt. Donald Cinque said his little boy that he walked around with had a heart of gold,

"Every penny was spent for his brothers and sisters, mother, father and grandfather, he didn't buy one thing for himself, it was really interesting to see that."

Utica Police Officer Thomas Lindsey was gunned down while conducting a traffic stop on April 12, 2007. Since then his fellow officers have done whatever they could to raise money to help children, something they say was very dear to Lindsey's heart.

Matrulli says, "Since that day, the community has shown such gratitude and commitment to his name that we are able to do this, I'm just glad that we are able to do these things." And the group of officers say they can't wait to do it all again next year.
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