A Milwaukee mom got quite the surprise when recently pulled over by police. While she expected the officer was going to give her a ticket over an expired registration, the situation took an unlikely turn.
When Officer Kevin Zimmerman approached Andrella “Lashae” Jackson’s car, he noticed her daughters were in the car without car seats. When he asked Jackson why the girls weren’t in car seats, Jackson responded she couldn’t afford them; buying winter coats and boots for her daughters had to take precedence.
Instead of issuing Jackson a ticket, Zimmerman went out and bought the girls’ car seats. The officer called Jackson later that day to get the girls’ weights to ensure he purchased the proper seats. He even went to the Jackson’s house to install the seats properly, and to fill out registration cards in case of recalls.
Zimmerman has told the media he’s seen serious accidents involving children, so felt compelled to buy the seats to keep the girls safe.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), properly installed car seats lead to a 71% reduced risk of death for infants and 45% risk for toddlers.
“I’m a dad of three kids and can’t imagine anything happening to them, or not being able to have them secured in their car seats,” Zimmerman told CNN.
Zimmerman received kudos from the Milwaukee police department, who praised him on Facebook for going above the call of duty. Jackson and her daughters also thanked Zimmerman in a Facebook post saying, “My girls couldn’t stop thanking him… we appreciate it a lot.”
Jackson’s post has received more than 1,000 likes as the story of the officer’s kindness has gone viral. But Zimmerman says he doesn’t care about the publicity. His take — he says he was raised to always do the right thing, even when no one is looking.
