Officer Mario Verbeck was injured last month during a shootout with a robbery suspect, and his colleagues are now collaborating to rebuild one of Verbeck's cars and asking for the public's help.

According to KOB 4, Officer Louis Hernandez has joined other officers and has been working on the car during Saturdays from 9 a.m. until midnight weekly to restore it as a surprise.

“We have been pulling a bunch of money out of our own pockets to buy tools and equipment to do this and we are just starting to run short,” fellow APD officer Dustin Shrouf told KOB 4. Verbeck is the sole provider for his family, Shrouf said, and “This was something that I wanted to jump in on because it's helping out in a different way rather than just the GoFundMe type stuff. He’s barely mobile at this point, it’s going to be years before he has the opportunity to even work on something like this, so we want to finish it for him.” 

KOB reports that Verbeck has gone home since his injury, but is still in recovery. Questions about the project or about donations can be emailed to lehernandez@cabq.gov, or call 505-768-2267 and ask for Hernandez.