Police officer has surprising reaction to pulling over mom and her 3 kids: 'What if a car hit them?'

Dillon Thompson
Updated ·2 min read

A Wisconsin police officer is receiving plenty of praise for the way he reacted after pulling over a mother and her three children.

Milwaukee Police Department officer Kevin Zimmermann was on patrol earlier this month when he pulled over Andrella Jackson, who was driving with improper registration, WITI-TV reported. Zimmermann soon realized something that concerned him more though.

"I see three kids in the backseat and two are very young," Zimmermann told WITI-TV. "I didn't observe any child restraints or even seat belts and I asked why the kids aren't in car seats. She said she can't afford them at this time."

Jackson told the officer she'd just purchased the car at an auction and hadn't had a chance to register it yet. As for the car seats, the mom mentioned that she had other financial concerns, too.

"With bills coming up and winter coming up, I've got to get coats and boots and shoes and stuff, so it was kind of hard for me," Jackson told WITI-TV.

Zimmerman immediately felt sympathy for the woman. The situation convinced him to let Jackson off without a ticket, and send her away with a surprising gift.

"I'm a father myself, I have three kids," he told WTMJ-TV. "I thought of my kids jumping around. What if a car hit them and they flew and got seriously hurt, if not killed?"

So the officer drove to Walmart, where he spent $75 of his own money on car seats for the two smaller children. He even returned to the scene afterward to help Jackson install them.

"I got these for you and your kids so your kids can be safe and you don’t have to worry about at least this part of the situation you’re in," Zimmermann said he told Jackson, according to WTMJ-TV. "She kept saying thank you and the kids kept saying thank you."

Jackson continued to show her gratitude in the following days, even sharing photos of Zimmerman's gifts in a now-private Facebook post.

"My girls couldn't stop thinking about him and it made them smile," her post read. "Shoutout to officer Zimmerman."

The Milwaukee Police Department weighed in on its officer's generosity too. The department shared Jackson's photos on its own Facebook page, along with a recap of the encounter.

"Thank you Officer Zimmerman for going the extra mile and going above and beyond your call of duty," the department's post read.