Not a single person on the planet enjoys getting tickets. They throw off your schedule, too many can ruin your driving record and the money spent paying them off can seriously add up. When Lavante Dell was pulled over for his tinted windows, all of these thoughts likely went through his mind.

When Westland Police Officer Joshua Scaglione approached the vehicle, he noticed that Dell’s three-year-old daughter was sitting in the back seat without a car seat, which would ordinarily result in another ticket. Scaglione then asked the father out of the vehicle and had a conversation with him.

“I asked him ‘Why do you have your kids in the back without a car seat’ and he’s like, ‘I can’t afford it,'” Scaglione said to FOX 2. “So I took him out of the car, separated him from his family and asked him what’s going on. He’s like, ‘Bills are building up, overtaking my income and I can’t afford a car seat right now.'”

After hearing Dell’s story, Scaglione could’ve left him with a warning and walked away looking like a hero for the day. Instead, the officer took things much further and had Dell follow him to a local Wal-Mart where he bought a car seat with his own money.

“He was really shocked he was set back and you know it’s not generally what I was looking for,” said Scaglione. “I was just looking to help somebody out and pay it forward.”

Dell was so caught up in the moment, that he thanked Scaglione but didn’t get a chance to catch his name. So, he wrote a lengthy Facebook post recounting the story. The local police department caught wind of it and helped the two meet again for a proper thank you.

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