When a police officer pulls someone over for a traffic vi*lation, most likely the driver of the vehicle will be given a warning or perhaps a ticket for disobeying traffic laws. While it’s important to make sure drivers obey traffic laws, pulling a vehicle over for a minor offense can sometimes lead to solving a much bigger crime.
On Facebook, the North Myrtle Beach Police Department shared the story of a recent arrest that came about due to a traffic vi*lation. It all started when Officer Kayla Wallace noticed a white Jeep run a red light. It was about 30 minutes before her shift was over, but that didn’t stop her from doing her job. She was quick to pull over the Jeep.
Officer Wallace approached the vehicle and noticed that there was a male passenger and a female driver. The driver opened her door, and Officer Wallace told her to close it. Then the passenger opened his door to explain that the windows in the Jeep don’t roll down. Then the driver told Officer Wallace she thought she might throw up.
One more thing the driver did was critical in catching a criminal. When the passenger wasn’t watching, the driver mouthed “help me” over and over again to Officer Wallace who immediately moved the passenger to the back of her patrol car.
Once the passenger was locked in the patrol car, Officer Wallace went back to talk to the driver. According to the driver, the passenger had shot someone and forced her to drive the getaway car at g*npoint. She explained that she was so scared that she didn’t notice that the light was red, and that’s why she ran the light.
Moments later, a Be on the Lookout (BOLO) was sent out for a white Jeep, a vehicle which matched the description of the one Officer Wallace pulled over. In addition, the BOLO also described a man involved in a sh**ting who matched the description of the passenger in the back of Officer Wallace’s patrol car.
Because Officer Wallace was doing her job well and pulled over a vehicle for running a red light, the police were able to quickly a**est the passenger who had been in the white Jeep, a 29-year-old man named Collins Bates who was charged with attempted m*rder, k*dna.pping, unlawful carrying of a fire*rm, and possession of a w**pon during a vi*lent crime in connection with a sh**ting.
Officer Pat Wilkinson told CBS News that a pistol was found under the car seat where Bates had been sitting.
