When LaVonte Dell was recently pulled over by a cop, he never expected the encounter to turn out the way it did. The Michigan resident knew immediately that his car’s tinted windows caught the police officer’s eye. But once officer Joshua Scaglione had a look inside the car, he found a much greater cause for concern. He noticed Dell’s 3-year-old daughter was sitting in the back seat without a seatbelt. When the officer questioned Dell about it, he explained that he was going through “tough times.” But instead of writing up a ticket, the officer did something that sent Dell to Facebook to write about the incredible experience.
Instead of writing Dell up a ticket for driving his 3-year-old daughter around without a car seat, Officer Scaglione asked to hear more of the man’s story.
“I related to the fact that I’ve been in that situation before,” the officer said to WXYZ. “I said to myself, ‘This is the perfect opportunity for me to help this guy.’”
After hearing more about Dell’s situation, Officer Scaglione decided to take the matter into his own hands. He told Dell to follow him, but not to the police station, but rather to Walmart, where he bought Dell’s daughter a car seat.
Stunned, Dell logged onto Facebook and expressed his gratitude for Officer Scaglionet:
“Yesterday, I was pulled over in Westland for my window tint.
This stop went nothing like I thought it would. He got my stuff and was walking back to the car and saw 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’m barely making it because of these garnishments and I really don’t like asking people for stuff.
Do you know this white police officer 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.
You got me with hella tats walking side by side with a white officer—Westland at that. 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 its cover. There most def is some good guys left. I told him, ‘I never met an 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?’”
The Westward Police Department replied shortly after:
“The Westland Police Department would like to express how proud we are of the officer responsible, Officer Joshua Scaglione.
We would also like to thank the driver, LaVonte Dell for coming forward and sharing this experience with us. In a world filled with negative stories, the fact that you shared yours has had an unbelievably positive impact on all of us.
Thank you.”
Watch the whole story in the news report below:
What an amazing story! Officer Joshua Scaglione is truly a shining example law enforcement’s mission of serving and protecting his community! Share his kind gesture if you agree.
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