Teenager who broke into Skokie XSport Fitness multiple times to play hoops felt he was in trouble when management eventually called the cops on him.
However, the expected outcome did not occur. The responding officer contributed $150 toward Vincent Gonzales, a teenager, joining the gym.
“I thought it was really nice. I texted him and I said ‘thank you.’ That meant a lot,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales was no longer a member. The student athlete spent a lot of time at the court this summer.
“It was kind of like a magic show. He would just randomly appear, not walking past the front desk,” said XSport Fitness employee Justin Pritchett of Gonzalez. “All of our entrances and exits are blocked. And sure enough, he would just show up on the basketball court. He just wanted to play ball.”
Gonzales had been told by management at XSport Fitness that an unenrolled minor posed a security risk.
When they finally got a hold of him once more, they phoned the cops. Officer Mario Valenti stepped in at that point.
“After 23 years in this job, you size up people pretty quickly. And I could tell he was a gentle type of kid,” Valenti said.
In order to provide a safe space for the teen to play, Valenti put up his own $150 to donate to the club. After that, the main office of XSport Fitness gave the teenager a two-year membership free of charge and refunded the hundreds of dollars in expenses.
Pritchett thought it was “wonderful” that the police officer had responded in such a way as to convert a potentially disastrous scenario into something so upbeat.
“You get satisfaction out of helping people, especially because our job is so negative,” Valenti said.
Gonzales, it turns out, is a decent basketball player, and he planned to give out for a spot on the squad at his new school, Uplift Community High School, on Chicago’s North Side.
An alternative outcome to Gonzales’s encounter with the police officer is possible, according to the point guard. His mom expressed her appreciation for the officer’s thoughtfulness in allowing her kid to concentrate on school and sports.
