Two Phoenix police officers responded to reports of a scam that left a father penniless days before his 2-year-old daughter's birthday - then used their own money to buy her presents, moving him to tears.

Officers Alessandro Figuccio and Tanner Schnieder, partners at the Phoenix Police Department's Cactus Park Precinct, have worked together for about a year.

Their paths to policing were different: Figuccio said becoming an officer was a childhood dream, while Schnieder was a truck driver before he decided to change careers.