North Carolina police officer helps woman after stopping her for speeding

DURHAM, North Carolina (WPVI) -- Courtney Bailey is a music teacher but she was laid off in April. She said she has gotten some work over the past few months but June has been really tough.

"This week, was the first week where it was like, I have no money and I don't know what I'm gonna do," said Bailey.

On Tuesday, Bailey said she had just wrapped up a job interview and was on her way to donate plasma for money.

She admits, she was in a hurry.

Officer D.P. Strandh was on traffic patrol on Roxboro Street that day and pulled her over for speeding.

Bailey said she knew she faced a ticket for speeding, but she also wasn't wearing her seatbelt and her registration was expired.

To her surprise, instead of dishing out tickets, he offered to take her to get a state inspection for her car so she could get her car registration up to date.

Bailey told him she didn't have any money to pay for that, but he insisted.

Not only did Officer Strandh foot the bill for the $40 inspection, he also noticed one of Bailey's tires was worn out so he bought her a tire for about $150.

"I don't know why I did it really," said Officer Strandh. "It was just something I felt in my heart."

The two said they chatted while waiting for the tire to be changed about being from the south, having small children and military members in the family.

Bailey was so moved by her experience she posted a video about it on Facebook.

The post has been viewed more than 100,000 times. This is a sobering thought for Officer Strandh who said he usually keeps to himself.

"Didn't expect this, like to be on the news," said Strandh.

While they laugh at all of the unexpected attention, they both said they hope their experience helps set the tone for relationships between police and community.

"People just need to talk to each other," said Strandh.

"I wasn't doing anything remarkable, actually I was doing something I had no business doing it was quite dangerous what I was doing and somebody saw through my error and my fear to help me," said Bailey.

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