Officer Borrello Crowned New King of Tetherball in South Pasadena

SPPD challenges young South Pasadenan to a friendly game while on rounds Sunday morning

PHOTO: Courtesy of Aman Murray | SouthPasadenan.com | South Pas Mom, Aman Murray, looked out her window to see this scene playing out on her front lawn on a Sunday morning.

Officer Borrello was out on one of his first solo patrols Sunday morning, having recently completed his field training. After a stop at Garfield Park to observe some kids playing soccer, he turned down a nearby street when some boys sitting in the shade near a tetherball pole caught his eye. Borello says “I used to play tetherball all the time as a kid so I rolled down my window and asked them who was the best player. They agreed on one of them and I just said, ‘Let’s play!’”

The youngster was Keeran Murray and he says, “at first we were in shock that he wanted to play. We picked my friend John at first but he said ‘no, not me, not me’ and they said I should play.” When asked what was going through his mind, Murray responds, “I was excited!” So how did Officer Borello do? “He’s really good! He beat me. He’s the king now!”

PHOTO: Courtesy of Aman Murray | SouthPasadenan.com | Officer Borrello in a friendly game of tetherball with Keeran Murray

Mom and Dad, Aman and Adam Murray, were just sitting in the living room when the squad car pulled up. Adam ran outside but quickly realized what was happening. Meanwhile Aman says at first she thought they might be in trouble for having the tetherball pole but as the scene unfolded, she quickly ran inside to grab her phone to take pictures. “It’s so sweet and so nice that can happen here. To see the officer and the kids excited like that. The officer was saying things like “no ropies” so he clearly knows what he’s doing!”

- Advertisement -

Officer Borrello comes to us from the Sheriff’s department and says he wanted to come to South Pasadena because he had heard it was very family oriented and that the department was a good environment and really believed in community policing. “I studied that in college, so that was very appealing to me.” After four months in South Pasadena, Borrello is loving South Pas, saying, “we want to be a good influence on the kids and let them know that police are more than fighting bad guys; we want to be a part of the community as well. The people here treat us really well and it feels good to be supported.”

We welcome you, Officer Borrello, and thank you and the entire department for all you do for South Pasadena every day.