Stranger Confused When Cop Pulls Her Over, Then He Hands Her Christmas Ham

By Amanda Thomason December 20, 2018 at 11:00am

Less than a week until Christmas. You have work, shopping and cooking to do, and yet the time is flying by unapologetically.

If you suddenly see flashing lights in the rearview mirror and realize you are being told to pull over, you may wonder what you did while lost in your stress-induced haze. Were you speeding? Did you run a light? Did you turn somewhere you weren’t supposed to?

At least 40 people must have been wondering that in Mississippi this week as officers with the Saltillo Police Department began pulling over more people than usual.

One of those drivers, Beverly Cruse, couldn’t figure out why a cop was having her pull over. She’d been extra busy this season because she was looking for a place to live, but she certainly didn’t expect what the officer told her.

When he approached her car, he handed her a ham. Cruse was shocked.

“I was trying to think if I stopped at the stop sign,” she said, according to the Daily Journal. “You’re going to make me cry.

“I’m looking for a house right now so things are tough. All I can say is thank you. My family will love this.”

That was just the reaction Police Chief Grant Bailey was looking for, and he said her response was “what makes it all worthwhile.” The officers had a little help to make this happen, though.

Have you done something nice to help someone else this holiday season?

Bethany Baptist Church and Bobby Williams, a businessman, teamed up to provide a total of 40 hams and wanted Saltillo policemen to hand them out to unsuspecting citizens. The cops knew the drill since they’ve handed out turkeys at Thanksgiving before.

“They knew about the Turkey for Tickets promotion and wanted to do something for Christmas,” Bailey said. “They wanted to go through us to give back to the community.”

“The reality of it is that we are just the distributors,” the police chief continued. “It is good for us to show a softer side to the public, but it is the other folks that make this happen.

“They are the heroes. We are just glad they let us participate.”

“Check out our Officers giving out Hams to citizens for the Holiday season,” the police department wrote on their Facebook page. “This is our second year doing it, Thanks so much to those that made this possible.”

“Over 50 Hams and 50 Turkeys given out this season. Not to mention the OVER 100 Baskets for Thanksgiving raised by our Saltillo Tiger Achievers.”

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