SC deputies pull over drivers, including Santa’s elf, in random acts of kindness

It’s not every day that Richland County Master Deputy Justin Moody gets a hug from someone he pulls over – much less encounter a grateful elf.

While patrolling Broad River Road on Thursday, Moody pulled over a car that had a tinted cover over its license plate. He noticed the driver was wearing ... an elf hat.

Instead of writing the jolly-looking driver a ticket, though, Moody handed him a $25 Olive Garden gift card.

“And that’s my favorite restaurant!” a delighted Duron Johnson, a kindergarten teacher who was on his way to his students, shouted.

Johnson, decked in full costume including red and green pointed shoes, said he thought he was speeding when he saw blue lights in his rear view mirror.

“I was like, ‘Well, look, I guess God’s just gonna work something out for me,’” he said. “And look what he did – he gave me a gift card.”

Johnson gave the officer a hug and the two parted ways. It wasn’t the only hug Moody received Thursday, though.

Irmo resident Lacresia Wilson was going Christmas shopping and wasn’t wearing a seat belt. She screamed with laughter – and relief – when Moody handed her a $25 gift card instead of a ticket.

“I’m gonna give you a hug,” she said, getting out of the car and lamenting that she had not waxed her eyebrows for a newspaper photographer who captured the encounter.

Moody and another deputy began the Christmas tradition several years ago after talking about ways to deliver random acts of kindness to the community. They first thought about a toy drive, but decided gift cards were more useful.

“We have a lot of individuals that, it’s a rough time for some for different circumstances – personal, financial, whatever the case may be,” Moody said.

The way it works is that instead of deputies pulling people over for minor violations, they give drivers a treat and a reminder to be safer.

Moody estimated they will give out between 150 and 200 gift cards this month to Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, Chick-fil-A, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks or Cracker Barrel. He gives gift cards to other deputies to hand out on their shifts.

A second officer involved in the initiative, a reserve deputy, does much of the fundraising for the cards but did not want to be identified. Publicity was never the goal when the program started, Moody said.

“We’re not out here just trying to give people tickets,” he said. “If I can divert someone’s driving behavior by giving out a gift card rather than a ticket, I’d rather do that.”

Only once have deputies pulled over a driver and ended up arresting him for something serious, Moody said.

It happened during the first year of the initiative, 2012, when officers used to check each driver’s license. A man who was pulled over was wanted in Georgia for a very serious offense and was arrested, Moody said.

“But, he still got his gift card,” he said, laughing.

This story was originally published December 14, 2017 at 4:33 PM with the headline "SC deputies pull over drivers, including Santa’s elf, in random acts of kindness."