Raleigh officer talks about Facebook photo
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- A police altercation at a Raleigh apartment building forever changed the lives of the two men involved.
Raleigh police officer JD Boyd and Cory Allen Sanders bump fists when they see each other, but last October, their interaction was entirely different.
"It was one of the most testing incidents in my life," Officer Boyd said. "I was overseas in Afghanistan. Nothing came close to the one on one incident between me and him that day."
Officer Boyd said Sanders became aggressive with his girlfriend and with him. Boyd said Sanders even tried to stab him, and Boyd almost shot Sanders in return. Eventually, Sanders surrendered.
Boyd posted their next interaction on Facebook.
The post has since generated more than 225,000 likes and nearly 81,000 shares.
After spending some time in jail, Sanders turned his life around. He now has a full-time job.
"I think everyone has got it in them. You've got to want to change, you've got to want to wake up every morning. And, like I said on Facebook, make yourself a better version than who you were yesterday," Boyd said. "And I hope that people out there can see that and get that message."
Sanders and his girlfriend, Kendra Powell, are expecting their first child together in November.
"We're just so grateful for Officer Boyd because it could have went a whole other way that day," Powell explained.
Sanders' father agrees.
"He's still here today. And the police officer made the right judgement," said Roosevelt Pulley Jr., Sanders' father. "If it weren't for the police officer, Cory wouldn't be here today. And not only that, Cory has made a big change in his life."
Powell and Pulley said they are grateful to Officer Boyd for being a good cop.
