On a scorching hot Arizona night in September of 2014, 16 year-old Anthony Schultz was out jogging all alone. He had no idea a police officer was watching him…

As he watched Anthony run from his patrol figure, Officer Brandon Sheffert could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. He tried to talk to the boy, but Anthony wasn’t having any of it.

“Something about it bugged me because I couldn’t get through to him …He just seemed like there was something going on, and that there was something that was hurtful going on that he wouldn’t say,” Brandon recounted.

After Brandon got off work and returned home to his wife and two children, he couldn’t stop thinking about Anthony. He was so perplexed by the boy that he decided to look him up so that he could learn more about his background. First, he went to Anthony’s residence and discovered the teenager was living in a one bedroom apartment with seven other members of his family.

“I kept coming over here, talking to him, spending time with him, getting to know him, getting to know the family, understand what’s going on,” Brandon said.

Things got worse one night when Brandon got a desperate call from Anthony’s mother, who said, “You need to come take him …I can’t take him anymore.”

Brandon was stunned.

“I was like, ‘whoa, whoa, whoa. That doesn’t make sense,'” he said.

Since Anthony had nowhere else to go, Brandon and his wife decided to take him in. Originally, he was just going to stay with them for a week until his mother sorted things out, but she never ended up being able to take him back. Anthony was still living with Brandon’s family when he turned 18 back in November, but he still had nowhere to go. Brandon and his wife have decided to let Anthony live with them until he figures things out, as he has become part of their family!

“We have taken him in as one of our own ..Even my kids say he’s their big brother, and they love it,” Brandon said.

Anthony has flourished with Brandon’s family, and he is incredibly grateful to them.

“If he weren’t there that night, there would be no one else, in my opinion,” Anthony said. “I don’t think I would be here …I wouldn’t be the person I am, I could be in jail for all I know.”

Anthony is planning to enlist in the Army, and he knows that anything is possible for him after that!

“I feel as though there’s not a lot stopping me, at this point,” he said.

God bless this police officer for helping this boy in need! Find out more about them in the video below, and SHARE this story so your friends and family can see it as well!