A South Carolina police officer’s attention to detail during a traffic stop resulted in a woman rescued from a man wanted for a shooting.
Everyone is familiar with the phrase, “It’s the little things that matter.” That can apply to about any and every situation. Whether it’s writing and sending a company-wide email, baking a cake or building a table, attention to detail is key. It can often be the difference between success and failure.
Paying close attention to detail is what likely led to an officer in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, saving a woman being held against her will, according to CBS News.
The situation began in the early-morning hours on May 28 when Officer Kayla Wallace, with the North Myrtle Beach Police Department, spotted a white Jeep run a red light. Kayla, who happened to be patrolling in that area, immediately tracked down the Jeep and initiated a traffic stop.
When Kayla approached the Jeep, she noticed that a female was driving with a man sitting in the passenger seat, according to the North Myrtle Beach Police Department. As Kayla was conducting the traffic stop, she picked up on something rather odd.
Kayla, when talking to the female driver and the male driver, noticed the female driver signaling to her for help. She mouthed, “Help me” repeatedly. She only did this, though, when the male passenger wasn’t looking at the woman driving the white Jeep.
The Officer Learned the Driver Was Being Held at Gunpoint Against Her Will
Kayla, who picked up on this distressed signal, separated the two of them. She put the male passenger in the back of her cop car and then talked to the female driver.
Kayla learned the woman driving the Jeep was being held against her will. The male passenger was wanted in connection to an earlier shooting in the area. The male suspect had even forced the female to drive him at gunpoint.
At some point, after Kayla learned about the scary and potentially dangerous situation, a call went on over police dispatch radio to be on the look for the white Jeep. Kayla, CBS News reports, was unaware that any shooting had happened when she pulled over the Jeep.
In her report following the incident, Kayla wrote the female driver “stated that she was under so much stress that she did not see that the stoplight was red.”
The 29-year-old male passenger, Collins Bates, was taken into custody. He faces a number of charges in connection to the shooting, including attempted murder and kidnapping, according to WBTW.
Thank God for Officer Kayla Wallace’s attention to detail and quick thinking. She likely saved the driver of the Jeep from severe injury and possibly death.
“Rescue the poor and needy: Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.” – Psalm 82:4
