Instead of ticket, Michigan officer buys booster seat for girl whose mother fell on hard times

In this photo provided by Emmett Township, Mich., Department of Public Safety is Officer Ben Hall. Hall said was on patrol Friday, Oct. 3, 2014 when he stopped a vehicle Alexis DeLorenzo was driving following a report of an unsecured young child inside. Instead of ticketing DeLorenzo, who told him that she had fallen on tough times, Hall asked her to meet him at a local store where he bought a booster seat for her 5-year-old daughter. (AP Photo/Emmett Township Department of Public Safety) (The Associated Press)

This photo provided by Walmart shows Emmett Township, Mich., Department of Public Safety Officer Ben Hall, right, with Alexis DeLorenzo, her daughter and the child's seat he purchased for them. Hall was on patrol Friday, Oct. 3, 2014, in the southern Michigan community when he pulled over DeLorenzo's vehicle after someone reported that it had an unsecured young child inside. DeLorenzo said she knew that they could have been ticketed, but instead, Hall told her to meet him at a Wal-Mart, where he bought her the seat. (AP Photo/Walmart) (The Associated Press)

A Michigan officer who pulled over a vehicle because a 5-year-old girl wasn't secured in a booster seat decided a ticket wouldn't cut it.

Instead, Emmett Township public safety officer Ben Hall bought her a seat.

"A ticket doesn't solve the situation," Hall told WXMI-TV (http://bit.ly/1nbAerg ). "What solves it is the child being in the booster seat like she should be. It was the easiest 50 bucks I ever spent."

Hall was on patrol Friday in the southern Michigan community when he pulled over the vehicle after someone reported that it had an unsecured young child inside. Alexis DeLorenzo and her daughter were riding with a friend, and Hall said DeLorenzo told him that she had fallen on hard times and couldn't afford a booster seat.

"I was in a spot where I could help her," Hall said.

DeLorenzo said she knew that they could have been ticketed, but instead, DeLorenzo told her to meet him at a Wal-Mart, where he bought her the seat.

"It changed my life," DeLorenzo said. "I'm never going to forget him. And neither will my daughter."

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Information from: WXMI-TV, http://www.wxmi.com