'Thank You For Saving My Life': Unlikely Friendship Formed Between State Trooper & Drunk Driver
Originally published Feb. 27
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It's a friendship so unlikely that it seems impossible. A college student, on the worst night of his life, meets the best person he could've imagined.
Meet Minnesota State Patrol Trooper Keenan Jones.
"I work the dog watch shift in west metro Minneapolis," Jones said. "I work from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m."
It's work this Army brat-turned officer loves.
"Meet a lot of people, talk to people that aren't always like me and they've got their own stories and experiences that they share with me," Jones said.
And boy, was that ever true on one fateful night four years ago. Minnesota native Jake Bosacker, a criminal justice major at Texas Christian University, was home for Christmas break.
"I was downtown with some friends and tried to make it back home after having a few drinks," Bosacker said.
It was a pretty busy night for Trooper Jones.
"I think I had arrested two drunk drivers," Jones said.
He heard another call about another erratic driver. Jones had already gone back to the station to do some paperwork, but he had a feeling this was a call he needed to answer – and he was right.
"As soon as I got back on [Highway] 100 there, he was right there in my face, just weaving all over the place," Jones said. "I figured that I'd definitely had to make a stop."
Bosacker says the next thing he remembered were blue lights and sirens behind him. Jones said as he approached the vehicle, he saw Bosacker "covered in blood."
"Instantly smelled the strong odor of alcohol that he'd been drinking," Jones said. "He was pretty, pretty upset, emotional about what was going on, beating himself up because found out that he wanted to be a cop so he thought that his life was over and that he had ruined every chance that he could get with becoming an officer."
Bosacker said he felt suicidal at that moment.
"[Jones] comforted me and he said that my life isn't over, and that there might be some work that needs to be done, but the journey can start tonight," Bosacker said. "I don't remember specific words that he told me, but I just remember how he made me feel."
Instead of shaming Bosacker, Jones inspired him.
"A lot of us have made mistakes, we're not perfect," Jones said. "The biggest thing is if you make a mistake, try to do better, not be that same person that you were at that time of that mistake."
And now Bosacker isn't that person, because of that pivotal moment and poignant speech. He's now a college graduate, sober and married.
Bosacker and his wife, Natalie, live in Fort Worth, Texas.
"I am so proud of him," Natalie said.
Bosacker was able to call Trooper Jones via Zoom and offer his gratitude.
"Thank you for saving my life that night, and possibly somebody else's," Bosacker said.
He is still dreaming of becoming an officer.
"I feel like if it's still in God's plan for that to happen, I think he'll make it happen, and we'll just see where the road takes us," Bosacker said.
And thanks to a trooper on a mission, that road is taking him in the right direction.
"That's what I'm in this job to do is help be the best person I can be while making somebody else better," Jones said.
Trooper Jones said he learned from Bosacker, too. He has a goal of becoming a pilot, and he says Bosacker inspired him to keep trying harder at life.
The pair call each other friends and hope to meet in person one day.
