Sure beats a ticket.
In Lowell, Michigan, unsuspecting drivers who thought Officer Scot VanSolkema was pulling them over for minor traffic infractions instead received presents from their holiday wish lists. Filmed Nov. 19 and 20, and posted Tuesday on YouTube, a video of their interactions has started to go viral, collecting more than 13,000 hits in mere hours.
Gift recipients had to sign a waiver, but since they’d just received holiday presents, Bliss noted, “That was quite easy. They were totally fine with that.”
VanSolkema, who’s been on the force for a decade, said that when he first heard about the idea of pulling over motorists and giving them gifts, his first reaction was, “OK, how are we going to do that?”
Bliss credited him for charming drivers to the point of sharing their hopes and dreams, but VanSolkema admitted some drivers were a little tougher to connect with. “I had the hard job of actually trying to get the [specific gift] information out of them,” he said with a laugh. “It was not easy.”
Drivers who were hesitant to share their dream gift ideas with VanSolkema — or simply wanted to get to their destination — were allowed to go on their way, Lauren said. Bliss guessed that about 1 out of 3 drivers left before they had the chance to get a present.
“There were some people who were [asked], ‘What do you want for Christmas?’, and they would say, ‘Go to hell,’” added Lauren, deadpan. “We couldn’t provide that for them, so, they had to be cut loose.”
