Romance, it seems, is not dead. At least not in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Police officers there allowed a man to propose to his girlfriend before they arrested him and took him to jail.
That man is 35-year-old Brandon Thompson, who had six outstanding felony warrants for his arrest. Thompson was spotted on July 4 (which also happens to be his birthday) by Officer Bob Lynch, who followed him to his mother’s house, where the arrest was made. It was during that process that Thompson asked if he could propose to his girlfriend, Leandria Keith. A request that came as a surprise to the officer, but one he decided to grant.
Police body cams were running and captured the magic moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OIT26SW7qo
“When you’re in love with somebody and you know that you want to spend the rest of your life with them, you just want them to know how you feel,” Thompson told CNN.
In the video, one of the arresting officers can be seen moving Thompson’s handcuffs to the front of his body so he can present Keith with the ring. In the end, Keith said yes.
“We all want to see someone get their life on track,” said Lincoln Anderson, one of the officers on the scene. “Hopefully, it will help him make the choices it will take to support his future wife and his kids. And if by letting him take a moment before going to jail to do what he did, then we did our jobs.”
According to Anderson, the six felony warrants were bench warrants for failure to appear in court or failure to pay.
Thompson’s mother, Judy Peal, said her son was tired of running and hiding from the police and said the officers were “wonderful” for allowing her son to propose.
“Police officers are human,” said Anderson. “We care about the city we serve and the people in it. Sometimes the smallest gesture of kindness is the biggest influence in someone’s life.”
Thompson says he’s been doing a lot to turn his life around, including coaching a local pee-wee football team. “So many young kids grow up without fathers and don’t have the correct type of guidance,” he said. “I’ve been down that road before. I don’t want them to make the same mistakes I’ve made.”
Thompson was bailed out by his new fiancé the next day and is scheduled to appear in court on July 17.
H/T CNN
