‘Little A’ surprises Chester Co. sheriff at national convention

Chester County Sheriff Alex “Big A” Underwood admits it – “Little A” conned him.

The boy for whom Underwood made a dream hunting trip come true – his newest buddy Alex “Little A” Collins – pulled off a big surprise.

Underwood was at the National Sheriff’s Convention in Baltimore this week when the huge room of cops went silent and a tiny little guy wearing the world’s largest smile came out.

“He got me,” Underwood said of Little A’s surprise appearance. “He got me good.”

In December, Underwood brought Little A to Chester County after the boy thought a sheriff-sponsored hunting trip for kids was in his home Chester County in Pennsylvania. Little A wrote that he had never been hunting, his single mom was sick, and it was a dream.

“I hope you pick me to go,” Little A wrote.

But the trip was for Chester County, S.C. So Sheriff Carolyn Bunny Welsh in Chester County, Pa., and Underwood arranged for Little A to get there.

Sheriff Welsh took Little A to the Baltimore convention under wraps – with the approval of his mother. Underwood had been telling other sheriffs that normally Little A calls him twice a week and he hadn’t heard a word – and then out walked Little A.

“Gotcha!” Little A said.

The new best friends celebrated Little A’s 10th birthday together, watching a Baltimore Orioles baseball game and eating ice cream cake.

“First time I ever was conned and got hugs and smiled about it,” Underwood said.

This story was originally published July 2, 2015 at 4:58 PM with the headline "‘Little A’ surprises Chester Co. sheriff at national convention."