'Everything's Going Wrong': Police Stop Speeding Man, Help Hook Up New TV

Oct 08, 2021 by apost team

A routine traffic stop quickly turned into a real opportunity for a police officer to serve a member of his community. When officer Kevin Coates from the Sterling Heights Police Department pulled over an elderly man on the evening of Sept. 30, 2021, in Michigan, he learned that the man had a lot more going on in his life than meets the eye. 

David is a 79-year-old man who was pulled over for speeding and showed clear remorse the moment he met face to face with Coates. He was visibly upset and on the verge of tears. While his remorse was no excuse for such poor and reckless driving, David explained to the officer that his wife was in bad health and that his adult son is mentally ill. All David wanted to do was be able to provide for them and make them happy. 

Just earlier that day, he went out and bought the family a brand new television, but there was a problem: David had no idea how to set it up. This tugged at Coates’ heartstrings, so he let David know that if he had the time, he would try to go over to his house later that night and help get the TV set up.

Just as David gave the officer his phone number, address and other information, Coates had a call come in that he needed to respond to. He let David go with a verbal warning for speeding, and the two went their separate ways until later that night.

Dashcam footage showed David getting pulled over for speeding around 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 30, 2021. “Everything's going wrong,” David said. He started to cry and explained, “I really try to drive right.” David told Coates about the struggles he was having at home and how all he wanted was to set up the new TV he bought. “I bought a television today because I want to make my wife happy,” he said. David explained that he couldn’t figure out how to hook it up, so he was driving around to different stores looking for help.

The Detroit News reported that Coates gave David a verbal warning for speeding and politely promised to come to his home later to hook up his TV since one of his partners was pretty good with technology. “My partner is real good at electronics, I can have him look at it if you want,” he said. “If I have time tonight, maybe I’ll stop by and take a look at it.” David gave the kind officer his phone number and told him whereabouts in Sterling Heights he lived, and the two went their separate ways.

With officers Remi Verougstraete and Jeremy Jakushevich by his side, Coates followed through with his promise and mounted David’s new television, hooked up his cable and even showed him how to use the TV’s remote.

David, who is admittedly horrible with new technology, expressed his sincere appreciation for the officers and their help, as per WXYZ. Chief Dale Dwojakowski was just as proud of his officers. “This is just another example of the amazing service that the Sterlings Heights Police Department provides our community,” he said.

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