Gingerbread Man Helps Police Nab Traffic Violators [Video]


Authorities in California recently received a little help from an unlikely ally: The Gingerbread Man.

The instantly-recognizable and incredibly delicious character is helping police crack on traffic violators in Moreno Valley. After Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Gastinger put on the costume, The LAist reports he immediately started hitting the crosswalks.

Dressed from head to toe as the Gingerbread Man, motorists were unaware that Deputy Gastinger was keeping an eye on their behavior behind the wheel. His mission: To bust anyone who violated his right-of-way at the crosswalk.

Although you’d think it would be hard to miss a giant walking cookie in the middle of a street, apparently people had a hard time spotting Deputy Gastinger. The Press-Enterprise reports that police cited 20 traffic violators in the span of 50 minutes.

It didn’t take very long for pictures of the crime-fighting Gingerbread Man to pop up on social media. Not surprisingly, a lot of people seemed amused by the idea of a police officer dressed as a giant seven-foot cookie.

“The Gingerbread Man hasn’t been run over in pedestrian decoy operation in Moreno Valley. All kids safe too,” one micro-blogger recently tweeted.

Deputy Gastinger spent the majority of his time at the crosswalk near Rainbow Springs Elementary School. The Sheriff’s Department said several people had recently complained of drivers cutting off students in the area. Nineteen people were reportedly cited for failing to yield, a scary number considering the number of children who pass through the area every day.

“Our concern is if they can’t see a 7-foot Gingerbread Man, then how are they going to see their son or daughter that is only 5 feet tall walking through a crosswalk,” Sergeant Bill Guimont said.

Curious to see the undercover cop in action? Here are a few pictures of Deputy Gastinger in his outfit. As you can tell, the guy is pretty hard to miss.

Here’s video of the deputy doing his job.

What do you think about police using the Gingerbread Man to catch traffic violators?

[Image via Shutterstock.com]

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