STOCKTON, California — When Oakdale Police Chief Jerry Ramar heard a music video coming from the police department's report writing room recently, it made him curious.
"Found out it was Officer (Jefferson) Yega. He was playing some video that he had produced and learned of his talent that way," Ramar said.
The chief had already known that Officer Jordan Tapia had a talent for playing the piano, so that gave the chief an idea to have his two officers create a short video to post on Facebook showcasing their talents.
"My intent of having the video put out was to just show the community that these police officers are people. They have more in their life than just police work," Ramar said.
In the video lasting just over five minutes, Officer Jefferson Yega sings country star Jimmie Allen's hit song called, "Best Shot."
"Singing, I find singing very soothing. It takes my mind off stuff. It's like an outlet," Yega said.
Officer Tapia plays a rag time, bluesy piano piece he named, "Oakdale Boogie," that he says he made up on his own.
"When I met another officer that had the similar musical interests that I did that definitely brought us closer," Tapia said.
Born in the Central African nation of Cameroon, Yega has been singing since he was 11 years old, initially starting with gospel music in church.
Tapia is a classically trained pianist. He started at the age of five.
He says while he spent years practicing and performing classical pianos pieces, hearing rock n' roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis while in high school got him hooked on more boogie-woogie and bluesy piano playing.
"That was really the first time when I was like, 'Wow, the piano can be fun' and I want to play just like him," Tapia said.
Recorded at the Oakdale Rodeo Grounds, the video has become a hit on Facebook.
"Online, I can't believe just how positive the comments are," Tapia said.
"I felt it was a really good way to reach out to the community and show them that police officers do have a life outside of policing," Yega said.
Becoming so popular, a local restaurant has even reached out offering to pay the duo to perform for two hours. Still, the two officers have no plans to hang up their holsters and seek their fame and fortune.
To view the music video, go to the Oakdale Police Department's Facebook page.
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