Heartwarming video shows a Cabarrus County, North Carolina, deputy pulling over a driver with a bad attitude, but it ended in the most unexpected way.
The driver, Katelyn Ricchini, said she was heading home from church when she got pulled over on a Sunday back in March.
“I met him with absolute attitude, just absolute attitude,” Ricchini recalls.
“I stopped you at 61 in a 45,” Shawn Singleton, a deputy with the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office, can be heard saying in the video.
“You didn’t put your lights on until after I slowed down,” Ricchini answered. “I was going the speed limit.”
“No, but I clocked you at 61 and a 45 I didn’t stop you there,” the deputy replied. “So what’s with the attitude? Just curious.”
In the video, Ricchini can be heard asking, “I’m not allowed to have bad days?”
Singleton answered, “No, everybody is entitled to a bad day. I can understand that completely … but I’m trying to be nice and courteous to you … and I’m getting a lot of heat.”
Looking back on that day, Singleton said, “I could tell immediately that it was not the best of encounters. She was very aggravated.”
“I come from a background where I don’t do cops,” Ricchini said. “I can’t stand cops.”
Keeping his composure, Singleton ran Ricchini’s license and decided, despite the heated interaction, to let her off with a warning.
In the video, Singleton can be heard saying, “I understand you’re having a s*** day, so I’m not trying to make it any worse. This is a warning ticket for you to slow down. That’s it. No court date, no fines, no nothing. I’ll ask you pay attention to speed limit signs. Get to where you’re getting to safely.”
In that moment, something changed.
“I could tell something was going on,” Singleton reflected.
In the video, he can be heard asking, “Are you good?”
“No … the anxiety is killing me,” Ricchini answered. “I come from a background. I’m clean and sober now … [but] I’ve always had bad incidents with cops.”
Singleton offered words of encouragement, saying he had no idea what the woman was going through until that moment.
“Is there anything I can do for you?,” Singleton asked. “Do you need help with anything at all? Do you want a hug?”
“Yeah,” Ricchini answered.
“Come here,” Singleton said.
That’s when Ricchini explained to the deputy, “I moved down here to get away from an abusive relationship, and I’m clean and I’m sober for four months.”
Katelyn revealed she was in a fight for her life and sobriety. After battling years of addiction and abuse, she had just moved to North Carolina, leaving her 5-year-old son in Maryland so she could get clean and get him back
“I’ve never hugged a cop before,” Ricchini said. “I’ve always been put in handcuffs by them.”
Singleton had no idea his humanity and kindness that day changed Ricchini’s life.
“I told him, I’m ready to give up,” Ricchini said. “I was actually on my way to probably do something that wasn’t in my best interest.”
As they hugged, Singleton can be heard soothing Ricchini, saying, “Take a deep breath. Everything’s gonna be okay. Okay? You’re on the right path. You’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing now, okay, all right, don’t lose that hope.”
Now, six months later, Ricchini is back with her son and celebrating 10 months of sobriety.
She recently introduced her son to Singleton, saying, “This is one of the guys that helped saved my life.”
“He saw me as a person and not an addict,” Ricchini said. “And he saw my heart … he saw that I have potential when so many people had counted me out. In a time of desperation, where I was questioning, ‘God where are you?’ He sent me an angel.”
“Don’t lose that fight that’s in you, okay? Because there’s something in you that’s driving you to a better life,” Singleton said. “Don’t lose that, hang on to it.”
“I really pray that Jesus blesses you for your kindness, sir,” Ricchini replied.
Ricchini said she will be one year sober in November, and she has already invited Singleton to celebrate with her.