When this father got caught up with the long arm of the law, he did not expect such a moving gesture from the officer.
Michigan based LaVonte Dell was driving yesterday when he noticed police lights trailing behind him, indicating that he should pull over.
The 28-year-old father immediately assumed he was being targeted thanks to his tinted windows. And while that was the initial reason his car caught the attention of the cop, something much more important grabbed his eye.
Dell’s little three-year-old daughter was not in a car seat. But despite the sinking feeling in his stomach as the officer called it out, the encounter between the two gentlemen did not go down as expected.
When officer Joshua Scaglione approached the vehicle, he didn’t hand over a ticket, but instead offered to take him to buy a car seat for his little girl, after Dell explained what a tough year he had been through.
Taking to Facebook, the overwhelmed man explained:
“Yesterday I was pulled over in Westland for my window tint. This stop was nothin like I thought it would be.
He got my sh*t and was walking back to the car and seen my daughter wasn’t in a car seat. So he asked me to get out and speak with him.
“He asked why didn’t she have one and I told him all I been thru this year like I barely making it because of these garnishments and I really don’t like asking people for (stuff). [He] told me to follow him to Walmart on Ford road and he purchased my daughter a car seat with his own money.
“If you would have seen us in Walmart u would have thought we were best friends. It was like night and day.
“I’ve been calling all day trying to get his name because I was so in shock. I didn’t even look at his name tag. Never judge a book by it’s cover it’s most def is some good guys left.
“I told him I never met a officer like u. He said I’m just doing my job what good would giving u a ticket do besides putting u further in the hole making it harder on you to come up.”
After the post went viral, the Michigan-based dad spoke to ABC News about the touching experience:
“He asked me to step out of my vehicle to talk to him, and I was just so scared thinking this couldn’t be good,” and told how he was moved that the stranger took the time to listen to his story.
“He purchased one for me, and it was pink, which is my daughter’s favourite colour. It has butterflies and she loves it," the doting dad explained.
And when officer Scaglione was indentifed and tracked down, he was reunited with the man who was honoured by his random act of kindness, and simply told people he was only doing his job, explaining that he could remember being hard up himself. He said:
“You know a ticket doesn’t help all the time.”
Watch the clips here:
Totally cute.