"I'm actually crying inside because I want this job, I gotta be there at a certain time," Roberts told CBS New York.
Roberts said a police officer noticed he looked distressed and asked what was wrong. He said he explained his situation to the officer.
"He said, 'You're not going to walk there and make it there. What time do you have to be there?' and I said, '1 o'clock,' and it was like 12-something, and he said, 'Get in the car,'" Roberts told KABC-TV.
"Last thing he said to me was good luck and God bless you. I said 'I owe you lunch,'" Roberts said.
Roberts, who got the job, said he wants to make good on his promise, but he doesn't know the officer's name.
"I say Andrews is his last name, for sure his tag has an A and a D in it, I seen those initials and that's what I remember," Roberts said.
Roberts, who has a criminal record, said he isn't used to feeling gratitude toward the police.
"I'm stunned, there isn't a cop doing anything nice for James Roberts, I got chased for 11 years when I was doing bad," he said. "I love this guy wherever he's at, I love this guy, and I have to see him, I have to."
America Works, the firm that helped Roberts secure the interview, praised the officer's actions.
"Part of the reason he got that job is just they were so impressed with seeing a police officer do that for him," said Dr. Lee Bowes, CEO of America Works.
