While law enforcement can be a thankless job, it’s not unheard of for officers to receive a word of thanks from those they’ve helped. Though these expressions of gratitude are admittedly rare, they usually come from a victim the officer has aided. It’s even rarer to hear thanks from the perpetrator of a crime. Sometimes, though, it happens.

“To this day, I thank the officers who arrested me, because they saved my life,” Hondo Underwood says. Underwood was, according to retired Lakewood, Colorado, police commander Mike Greenwell, “very good at stealing vehicles.” In his former life, Underwood was responsible for a significant portion of the auto theft stats in his town, claiming that he stole “hundreds” of cars. In an interview with KRDO 13, he said that he could “… steal 15 to 20 cars in a night.” The motivation behind the thefts was to support a drug habit.

Things changed in 2017 when he was arrested. His encounter with the justice system gave him a chance to make a clean break from his criminal lifestyle.

Live looks very different for Underwood now. He’s married and a father to three daughters. In a strange twist of fate, he now spends a great deal of time with people he once went out of his way to avoid.

It began in 2022, when he did an interview with CBS News, offering tips to citizens on how to keep their cars safe. This led to additional media appearances and, eventually, an invitation to speak at an auto-theft conference in Nashville, which drew more than 400 detectives. He’s already booked to speak at another auto-theft conference in Pennsylvania this September.

It’s not uncommon for officers to arrest the same individuals over and over throughout their careers. Despite this reality, it’s reassuring to know that some people really do turn over a new leaf. The person you arrest may one day be the featured speaker at a conference you attend.