UPDATED: Instead of Issuing a Ticket, Michigan Cop Buys Car Seat for Family

Lexi DeLorenzo knew she could have been fined for letting her five-year-old ride in a car without a car seat. But her car had been repossessed with the booster seat still inside, after the family fell on hard times and couldn’t pay their bills. When she and her friend were pulled over, with her daughter secured only in a seat belt, she feared the worst.

But, instead of giving her a ticket, Emmett Township Public Safety Officer Ben Hall led her to a nearby Walmart in Battle Creek, Michigan and bought the family a car seat to keep her safe.

“A ticket wouldn’t have solved the problem,” said the kind-hearted officer later.

”This officer has changed my life, not just because he purchased a car seat for my 5 year old, but because he has opened my eyes and given me hope,” the young mom wrote on the Facebook page of the Emmett Township Department of Public Safety, when they posted photos of the good deed.

“As soon as I can afford it, I will be paying forward,” she added.

Officer Hall said he was not looking to be paid back. “It’s a pay-it-forward situation completely,” he told a WXMI-17 news reporter.

UPDATE: “The only the reason the photo was put on Facebook was the little girl wanted to get a photo of the officer and her new car seat,” Lt. Tony Geigle told Good News Network Wednesday. “The only one of them with a camera at Walmart was the ‘loss prevention officer’ on duty. She snapped a few photos, emailed them to the family and sent them to the Department… The little girl was really happy,”

One of the officers at headquarters told Geigle, ‘I just got this picture from Amanda at Walmart.’

When other officers in the department heard about it they were pulling out their wallets to help pitch in and reimburse him. But, Hall refused any contributions telling them, “I wanted to do it, it made me feel good.”

“It has been pretty overwhelming for him,” said Geigle, referring to all the media attention. “For the most part, it has been very positive.”

The Emmett Township runs all their police, fire and EMTs out of a single office with everyone training together. “We are very community oriented and created our Facebook page to provide info to our public, to let people see what we are doing. We even post all our calls.”

(WATCH the video below or READ more from WXMI-17 News)

Photos courtesy of Emmett Township Public Safety Department Facebook Page