Park City police officer skips tickets, helps teen tie his tie
PARK CITY, Utah (KUTV) — A Park City Police Officer is going viral after he chose not to write a ticket, but rather help a teen in need.
On Saturday, Christy Carter was rushing to get her son, Jacob Deleo, off to the homecoming dance. He was set to meet his date and a group of friends for photos.
“I was running late and I didn’t know how to tie my tie correctly,” Deleo said.
Both he and his mom were stressed out and in a hurry. That’s when officer Mike Carrillo pulled Carter over for a rolling stop.
“I noticed her son was kind of upset about something. His tie wasn’t tied,” Officer Carrillo said.
Deleo was frustrated that he couldn’t tie his tie. Carter, a single mom of eight children, was taking him to a friend’s house before pictures to help him with the tie.
“He had every right to write us a ticket,” Deleo said.
But instead, Officer Carrillo did something else.
“I helped him tie his tie and went to go shake his hand and he wanted a hug and kind of caught me off guard,” he said.
Deleo thanked the officer for his help. He said he made an impact on him.
“I guess it’s just different because I see all these other kids that are expect tying a tie is easy, but it’s not when you don’t have that person around to teach you those things,” he said.
Deleo’s parents are separated and he rarely sees his father.
“When they split I was still young, so I just grew up not knowing to have that father figure around,” he said.
Officer Carrillo was glad to step in.
“It’s what I signed up for to be a cop, to help people,” Carrillo said.
Deleo now knows how to tie a tie, but said he learned and more valuable lesson that day.
“The police force is a lot more selfless than people think,” he said.
He made it to pictures and the homecoming dance on time.
“I appreciate it,” Deleo said, “I won’t forget that homecoming.”
