Lee County Port Authority officer reunites boy with stuffed animal after two-day search

LEE COUNTY, Fla. —

The Rotary Club of Fort Myers South is hosting this year’s Law and Order Ball to honor law enforcement officers across Lee County, with the announcement of Officer of the Year as one of the event’s highlights.

Officer Jason Kerekes, a Lee County Port Authority officer, is one of five finalists for the award.

Kerekes, who has dedicated his life to service, said, “My whole family comes from a military family. So I kind of went that route first, knocked down that domino, and then started this on the civilian side.”

Kerekes served four years on active duty for the Army and five years in the Army Reserves before becoming a police officer with the Lee County Port Authority six years ago.

“It could be someone stuck in an elevator. It could be a car accident with injuries. It could be, you know, whatever. You know, you just, it’s Russian roulette,” Kerekes said, describing the unpredictable nature of his work.

Recently, Kerekes demonstrated his customer service skills in a case involving a young boy who left his beloved stuffed animal in a rental car at Southwest Florida International Airport.

“The son was very attached to it, from what I understand. They didn’t realize that he had left that in the rental car until about a day or two days after they had gotten back up north,” Kerekes said.

Kerekes spent two days searching the airport’s rental car area and eventually narrowed his search to a room full of car seats. Despite the challenge, he found the stuffed animal, gave it a first-class tour of the airport, and sent pictures to the family.

“So it was nice to send her that. She called me back immediately. ‘Oh my gosh. How do I get it? How do we do this? Are you going to ship it to me? Am I gonna have to fly back down?’ I think that was one of the things that she had brought up, actually, was, ‘Do I need to fly back down there?’” Kerekes said.

Reflecting on being named a finalist for Officer of the Year, Kerekes said, “No, it feels fantastic. It’s definitely something that you don’t prepare for. You know, like I was explaining earlier, you prepare to come into work and take calls and go home. You don’t prepare for what happens when someone recognizes that and someone elevates that.”

The Rotary Club of Fort Myers South will announce the 2026 Officer of the Year this Saturday.

Before the announcement, a special event featuring local celebrity bartenders will take place on April 16. The state attorney, Fort Myers chief of police, and a Cape Coral councilmember will serve behind the bar, with $1 from every pint and tips donated to the Law and Order Ball, which is scheduled for April 18.

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