HODGENVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- With guns drawn and adrenaline on high, a recent traffic stop in the small town of Hodgenville could have ended in tragedy.
But instead, it ended up with a hug.Â
The chase began Wednesday afternoon out of Green County when deputies there radioed that they were in pursuit of a vehicle and person involved in a domestic situation. According to Hodgenville Police Chief James Richardson, that's when one of his officers also gave chase. With speeds approaching 90 mph, officers attempted a rolling roadblock maneuver to get the driver stopped.Â
"She actually pulled into the Sav-A-Lot at the south end of town," Richardson said.Â
Based on body camera released by the department, several officers surrounded the vehicle with guns drawn before Richardson approached the female driver.Â
"As I come up to the driver's side door, (another officer) said he had cover, so I went ahead and made contact with the driver and got her to open the door," Richardson said. "She had her hands up. She was shaking like a leaf. It was obvious she was scared to death. The look on her face was absolute sheer terror."
Video shows the woman crying before she and Richardson embrace in a hug.Â
"She started crying. She apologized," Richardson said. "She said she didn't know what she was doing. We don't train for that. It's never happened. I can say with almost certainty it will never happen again."
Eventually, Richardson was able to calm the woman. She ended up with fleeing and other charges, but Richardson said the outcome was about as positive as it could have been.Â
"Especially in this day and age with what you see on the news and Facebook and social media," he said. "It was obvious that she was scared. Yeah, we've got a job to do, but she didn't pose a threat. The people we deal with, they're usually in a bad situation, and they've made mistakes. But we have to treat everybody with compassion, and we don't know their situation. We don't need to be the judge and jury."
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