PINEHURST, Texas — Just in time for Christmas, the Pinehurst Police Department is showing the community protecting and serving doesn't always mean writing tickets.
Instead, if you commit a minor traffic violation, you might be in for a Christmas surprise.
People's faces lit up Thursday when they found out they were getting a Whataburger gift card instead of a ticket.
A part of Officer Matthew McDonald’s job is pulling people over to keep the roads safe. But today, instead of handing out tickets, he handed out gift certificates.
He went from being a highway Grinch to a real-life Santa Claus.
"Thank you so much. Thank you. Favorite place to eat in Orange, too," Tammy Ambrose said.
Ambrose didn't do anything wrong. She was pulled over as a reward for her safe driving. She was surprised with two Whataburger gift cards, and she wasn't the only one who got a little extra Christmas cheer.
Brittany Haley and her husband were pulled over and presented with a gift card to Lucy’s Café and Bakery in orange.
This small gesture made a big impact to a grieving family who had just lost their mother-in-law Wednesday night.
"I wasn't expecting you know what I mean, so this is super awesome,” Haley said. “Appreciate that. Really appreciate that."
When the flashing police lights came up behind Lee Mullins, he was left wondering what he did wrong. A couple minutes later, Officer McDonald presented him with two Whataburger gift cards.
"Especially in 2020, we're all going through hard times, so this is really cool," Mullins said.
And after rolling through a stop sign Collin McCullough was pulled over.
Busted? Think again!
Officer McDonald had two Chili's gift cards for him instead of a ticket.
"This is pretty awesome. I was expecting to get a ticket to be honest,” McCullough said. “Instead I got gift cards. It's awesome. I appreciate it. Sorry about the stop sign by the way."
Kendra Swanson said she has struggled during this pandemic and a traffic ticket would have added to her financial frustrations.
"Thought I was gonna have like a $300 ticket. I was gonna have to come up with the money to pay, so this is pretty cool," Swanson said.
Chief Hanauer and his officers will be handing out gift certificates for the next couple weeks leading up to Christmas.
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