On Wednesday a local non-violence group honored a Florida mother who spotted her son on surveillance video from a Cleveland robbery and turned him into police.
Brenda Whitely said she recognized her 22-year-old son, Frank Petrovic Jr., on surveillance video from a gas station robbery that aired on News 5 over the weekend.
“When I saw him on the video I was like ‘Wow, that’s my kid.’ Never thought my son would be doing something like that,” she said.
Whitely said it was one of the hardest decisions she’s ever had to make, but she turned him in for his own good because he had been dealing with addiction issues.
“It was very hard because I didn’t want to lose him,” she explained. “I was afraid that he wouldn’t talk to me, but I saved his life and he’s going to thank me in the long run.”
Al Porter, President of Black on Black Crime, Inc. said he saw the story and was deeply touched by Whitely’s courage.
“I just feel like she needed to be honored because this is what’s needed to curb a lot of violence in our society right now,” Porter said.
Porter called Whitely to give her words of encouragement and promised to visit Petrovic in jail for her.
The story hit close to home because Porter said his own mother called the police on him decades ago.
“Trust me, down the line your family members will thank you for it and that’s what's important,” Porter said.
