The first thing that comes to mind when we get pulled over by a cop is, “Uh-oh, what did I do?”. But instead of receiving a ticket, Chy-Niece Thacker received something from a police officer that she didn’t expect.
Thacker was on her way to a job interview one morning when she was stopped by Officer Jenkins.
“Don’t worry about pulling anything out,” he said to Thacker who was fumbling for her license and registration. “I just want you to know that your brake lights are out.”
Thacker was confused; she just had her brake light replaced a month prior. How could it be broken? She explained to Officer Jenkins that Firestone tried to charge her $600 just to run a test on the wiring of the car.
Officer Jenkins could not believe what he just heard, so the cop asked Thacker to pop her trunk. He started fiddling around with the brake lights and tapped each one, checking if he could get them to turn on. They didn’t come on, so he told her to pop the hood to check the relay box, then he asked her to get out and check the other one.
Thacker was touched by the officer’s act of kindness. He could have gone the easy way and given her a ticket, but he didn’t. Instead, Officer Jenkins went out of his way to make sure that she would be safe on the road.
She shared this encounter on her Facebook page, and the post immediately went viral, garnering 430,000 likes and 98,000 shares as of writing.
Read her full Facebook post below:
“So this happened just now. I’m on my way to go to my interview this morning when I get pulled. Both brake lights decided to go out this time. As he walked to the car and I was pulling out my stuff, he quickly said, “Don’t worry about pulling anything out. I just want you to know that your brake lights are out.”
So I’m immediately upset, because I just got them replaced like last month. So I explained to him how Firestone wants to charge me $600 just to run a test on the wiring of the car. He looked at me like [emoji] and told me to pop the trunk. He checked the lights in the trunk and tapped them, but they didn’t come on. So he told me to pop the hood to check the relay box then asked me to get out to check the other one. He could’ve easily given me a ticket, but Officer Jenkins stepped out of officer role and into mechanic role to make sure I was straight. #HesABlessing“
The Henrico County Police shared Thacker’s post and thanked her for appreciation and tribute to the kind officer.
“Thank you Chy-Niece Thacker for sharing this about one of our officers,” they wrote on Facebook. “We are so proud of our officers, especially when we see citizens share things like this. Above and beyond the call of duty, Officer Jenkins. Service to our community is what it’s all about.”
Kudos to Officer Jenkins who went out of his way to ensure a civilian’s safety! May we see more law enforcement people like him who take into heart the vow of service they took for our country.
So good to hear. 👌😊