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Man Proposes While Under Arrest And Handcuffed On His Birthday

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 03:18 PST, Jul 18, 2017

Brandon Thompson of Oklahoma was celebrating both his birthday and Independence Day on July 4 in the front yard of his Muskogee home when two police officers showed up.

Thompson, 35-years-old, had been seen earlier in the day by Officer Bob Lynch, who recognized Thompson from several felony warrants out for his arrest. So, he followed Thompson home.

As he was being led to the waiting police car, Brandon Thompson made a strange request. He told the police officers he wanted to propose to his girlfriend and let her know how he felt about her before being taken into custody.

According to CNN, Thompson was arrested on six felony and misdemeanor warrants.

A police body camera caught the romantic moment when Brandon Thompson got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend, Leandria Keith. The bodycam video clearly shows Thompson asking his mother if he should “do it now,” then asking her to get the ring.

Thompson spoke to CNN by phone, saying that he didn’t want to “part ways” with his girlfriend without “showing exactly how I feel for her.”

“I asked the officer if I could propose. The officer said, ‘You want to do what?’ and I said, ‘I want to propose to her.'”

Police officer and Muskogee police spokesperson, Lincoln Anderson, told CNN via Facebook that “it took us by surprise that he asked if he could do it.”

Officer Lynch and his partner Lincoln Anderson agreed to let him do it, and that’s when Thompson got down on one knee.

“I love you, will you be my wife please?”

And because this is such a romantic story, Leandria Keith said yes!

A police officer can then be seen switching Thompson’s handcuffed hands from his back to his front so he could place the engagement ring on his new fiance’s finger.

“I was shocked,” Keith told CNN.

The happy couple, who have been together since May 2016, has decided to set a wedding date once Thompson’s legal battles have been resolved.

“When you’re in love with somebody and you know that you want to spend the rest of your life with them, you just want them to know how you feel,” said Thompson. “I wanted a new start for me and with the police taking me to jail I didn’t have to worry about my warrants anymore.”

“I’m tired of running.”

Thompson said has been trying very hard to turn his life around, including coaching a peewee football team. He feels this gives him an opportunity to give back to the community.

“So many young kids grow up without fathers and don’t have the correct type of guidance. I’ve been down that road before. I don’t want them to make the same mistakes I’ve made.”

According to Muskogee County District Court documents, Thompson had six felony warrants out for his arrest. Officer Anderson told CNN that the bench warrants were for failure to appear in court or failure to pay.

Thompson’s mother, Judy Peel, spoke to CNN, and said that her son had come to her two weeks prior to being arrested and admitted that he was “tired of running.”

“When the police arrived I told him, ‘Place your hand in your mother’s hand and we’ll walk out.'”

Also shown on the police bodycam video is Thompson promising his new fiancee and his mother that he will turn his life around and get a job. Fortunately, the very next day his fiancee was able to pool their savings and get Thompson bailed out of jail.

Police officer Lincoln Anderson says he hopes that allowing Thompson to propose will show people the human side of policing, saying that police officers genuinely want to see people get their lives back on track.

“Hopefully it will help him make the choices it will take to support his future wife and his kids. And if by letting him take a moment before going to jail to do what he did, then we did our jobs.”

Thompson’s mother told CNN that the police officers were “wonderful” for letting her son propose to his girlfriend while under arrest.

“Police officers are human. We care about the city we serve and the people in it,” said officer Anderson. “Sometimes the smallest gesture of kindness is the biggest influence in someone’s life.”

The Huffington Post reported that the bodycam video taken of the proposal by Thompson was posted on the Muskogee Police Department’s Facebook page, and by Monday, it had been viewed more than 12,000 times.

https://www.facebook.com/muskogee.officer/videos/1354631421324012/

Brandon Thompson is facing multiple charges, including possession of a controlled substance, possession of a firearm by a felon, and failure to appear in court.

[Featured Image by NakoPhotography/Shutterstock]

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