Mississippi Highway Patrol Trooper Throws Out Speeding Ticket After Man Offers A Prayer Bracelet
A Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper had a change of heart while handing out a speeding ticket when the offender offered him a prayer bracelet.
According to ABC2, Mike Powers was dreading his drive from Nashville, Tennessee, to Mississippi after he was told by his boss that he would need to travel for work Wednesday morning.
Things got even worse when he was pulled over in Batesville, Mississippi, by a highway patrol officer. But, he was proven wrong by what transpired.
“I just had a feeling I needed to ask him how his day was going. I said, ‘How are you and how are the officers in Mississippi doing in light of all the senseless killings of police officers?’
He said he’s doing good and it’s tough and he was going to keep doing what he needed to do to help people.”
Powers said that after Trooper Jason Ales gave Powers a speeding ticket, he felt compelled to give him something back, a wooded saint bracelet.
After writing 6,000+ tickets in his career this trooper has never torn up 1,until last Sunday>>http://t.co/Jsxbi8Uoqz pic.twitter.com/2JIyQBiJmN
— WLBT 3 On Your Side (@WLBT) September 6, 2015
The gesture would prove to be a gift for both men, and Trooper Ales said it was one he would never forget.
“I was so touched by it I almost teared up there.”
It didn’t take long for Trooper Ales to decide to void the speeding ticket.
“I gave this man a ticket now worth maybe two hundred something dollars, but still out of his kindness he wanted to give me something.”
Trooper Ales noted that with all the bad things going on in the world today, the gesture struck a chord in him.
“With the stuff that’s going on with officers, that right there was so positive we needed that, I mean I needed that.”
According to Fox6 News, Powers says speaking with Trooper Ales put things into perspective.
“My day was stressful because I was trying to get somewhere I didn’t think I’d make it to. That was nothing to what he deals with on a daily basis, the stress he has to deal with not knowing if he’s going to make it back home.”
Speeding driver, and cop’s decision to tear up a ticket – story has gone viral online. 5:51: http://t.co/Sxz2KejuAz pic.twitter.com/tgNkXjjdWf
— FOX6 News (@fox6now) September 6, 2015
According to WCBD2 News, Ales didn’t place the prayer bracelet on his wrist. Instead, the bracelet now hangs from the camera on the inside of the patrol car.
“It’s ahead of me and watching over me and my patrol car at all times.”
But the good faith gestures continued. Powers decided to donate the money that would’ve gone to the speeding ticket to help kids at the Palmer Home for children in North Mississippi, which helps give orphans a place to call home.
Doesn’t the story of the prayer bracelet just make your day?
[Photo via Facebook/WCBD2 News]
