 Police officer pops open woman's trunk, lets her go after what he sees updated six months ago on July 20, 2020 by Michael Roque. It was supposed to be Chinese Thacker's Day to shine. She had an important job interview, was dressed for success and ready to knock it out of the ballpark as she drove over. But in that very moment, fate threw her a curved ball. Blue lights began flashing in her rearview mirror. And what happened after the police officer approached her left her utterly stunned. When Richmond Virginia native Chinese Thacker woke up on the morning of September 1, 2017, she had high hopes for what was to come. She started her day feeling motivated. The young mom had a job interview scheduled for that day, and now more than ever, she needed to be in tip top shape. Naturally, Chinese wanted to impress her interviewer. That meant slipping into her best business casual outfit, carefully doing her makeup, and knowing the finer aspects of the job she was interviewing for. She was feeling lucky as she walked out of her front door. Yet as it would turn out, luck had something quite different in mind. Chinese got into her car and pulled out of her driveway. By doing so, she immediately made herself a target to any cop itching to give a ticket. She didn't know it at the time, but as she stopped at stop signs and red lights, and break to make turns, she was actually putting a lot of people in danger. Chinese had a broken brake light. This meant that if any sudden stops were needed while on the highway, she might get smashed from behind. That said, Chinese had no idea that her brake light was out. If anything, she actually thought they were working fine, and she had good reason to think that. Only about a month prior to the day of her job interview, Chinese had checked her car into the local Firestone, where she had been urged to get her lights worked on. They then tried to charge her a startling $600 for a wiring test. She declined, asked for her car back, and then went on her way. While there is no concrete proof, it's definitely possible that one of these Firestone mechanics didn't like her rejecting their pricey wiring test, and decided to fool around with her car's lights. Fast forward one month, and while Chinese was on her way to that job interview, suddenly she saw something alarming in her rearview mirror. When going out for a job interview, knowing the job and dressing to impress just isn't enough. You need to appear confident and need to sport some good vibes. Chinese good vibes and confidence were at serious risk of being washed away, as she saw red and blue lights flashing in her rearview mirror. That hopeful Virginia Morning now took a turn for the worst for Chinese. If she didn't play her cards right, she knew that she might not make that job interview at all. She pulled over to the side. The cops slowly approached the car and Chinese quickly reached for something in her glove compartment. Chinese couldn't have been pulled over at a more urgent time. Being late to an interview is definitely a telling sign of what could be expected from a possible hire, and a penchant for being tardy definitely wasn't one of her personality traits. Chinese mood immediately took a nosedive. Being in a rush to get to her job interview, Chinese didn't want to waste any time arguing with the police officer. She immediately opened her glove compartment and reached for her registration. However, the cop didn't care about her registration. He wanted to get straight to the point. And it was at that point that officer Jenkins did something shocking. Nine times out of ten, if you have a broken brake light, no sob story is going to phase a cop. He'll see the damage as your responsibility, collect your license and registration, and write you a huge ticket. At the very least, he might write you out a fix-it ticket and be on his merry way. One could only assume that this police officer's behavior would be no different. He immediately told Chinese to put her license and registration away, and informed her that she had been driving with two broken headlights. The information bomb that he dropped on her was a shock to her system. What he'd do then was utterly unexpected. Chinese began telling the police officer her story about being overcharged by firestone and recently getting the lights fixed. Officer Jenkins raised an eyebrow and asked her to pop the trunk of her vehicle. We can only imagine the panic that she felt when he asked that question. She didn't want to end up on the news and had nothing to hide, so she stayed calm and opened up the trunk for the police officer. As he began circling the vehicle, she was likely wondering if she'd ever make it to the job interview. Chinese stepped out of the vehicle and watched the cop tinker with her trunk. What he was doing back there was definitely not something out of a police officer's job manual. Out of nowhere, the police officer went into full-on mechanic mode and began tinkering with her brake lights. He gave them a good look over and even tapped them a few times. Unfortunately, the lights did not turn on. Either her car was too old and decrepit, or the mechanics at Firestone had ripped her off. The officer lifted himself out of the trunk and then asked Chinese to pop the hood. He then proceeded to check the relay box. Chinese all the while looked on in disbelief. She recalled during an interview with Fox, he could have easily given me a ticket, but Officer Jenkins stepped out of the officer role and into the mechanic role to make sure I was straight. Despite the officer's good deed, would she make it to the interview? In terms of the broken brake lights, nothing much beyond the officer's touching response has been reported on. If Officer Jenkins managed to fix the brake lights and the end remains yet to be told, it's safe to assume that Chinese was able to make things right again with her vehicle. As for the job interview, she more than likely aced it. In 2017, Chinese began working at the University of Phoenix as a correctional program support person. While things might have looked dim earlier that morning, it was thanks to a cop with a different than usual approach that her day picked up. However, she didn't easily forget what that police officer did for her. She would later pay a little tribute to him. Chinese special thank you. Officer Jenkins' good deed stuck with Chinese throughout the whole day, and when she got home, she had to let the world know how she felt. Naturally, she took her gratitude to social media and left a very touching post. It surely isn't every day that a cop goes the extra mile for someone quite like that, so with suspense in mind, Chinese told her whole story. She built it up slowly, making many people suspect that when those blue and red lights began flashing, she was in big trouble. However, when everyone finished reading her post, they knew what a good man officer Jenkins was. Many people responded, but one post in particular really turned heads. Chinese grateful post instantly skyrocketed in terms of shares and comments. People were completely taken by the police officer's compassionate approach. With that said, there was one comment that Chinese was really touched by. Amidst the deluge of comments, the Henrico County Police Department decided to chime in and thank Chinese. The police station responded on Facebook by saying, thank you Chinese Thacker for sharing this about one of our officers. We are so proud of our officers, especially when we see citizens share things like this. Above and beyond the call of duty, Officer Jenkins. Service to our community is what it's all about. This back and forth would end up taking their mild story to the next level. These days, headlines featuring police officers generally have a far darker story behind them. But this act of kindness made Officer Jenkins stand out like a diamond in the rough. The internet ran with the story and it soon became a viral sensation. Even big news networks like Fox and NBC featured this simple tale of generosity. One person commented on the story saying, yes, there are some good ones out here. I got pulled over a couple weeks ago for my tail lights being out, and he helped me figure it out. It turned out that it had a fuse blown. He told me to drive the rest of the way home with my hazard lights on. Nonetheless, the context was not lost on some. The example of Officer Jenkins being a good Samaritan and thinking outside the box is just one story exemplifying the fact that there are actually a ton of amazing policemen and women out there. They aren't exactly itching to give you tickets or throw you behind bars, but instead to serve and protect their community. One comment on Chinese Post said the following, actually he gives all officers a good name. We have him, but there are thousands more like him. The bad ones with attitudes overshadow the truly professional officers like him. I do think Henrico has the best officers though. Officer Jenkins' compassion actually shined a light on possibilities people never fully considered. Many people saw look at how good the world could be if people just changed their approach towards one another. One comment summed it up neatly when it said, I love a good cop because I remember how nice it was to see them in the neighborhood and the feeling of being safe and you could talk to them. If all the good cops would oust all the bad cops, then police would again have our respect and admiration. Another comment expressed something similar when it said, Good job, Officer Jenkins. You are a great representative for the law enforcement community and the Lord is pleased with your righteous act of service. God bless you sir and may God protect you and your family. Given a few years have passed since the interaction, many wonder where Chinese is today. Years after this touching incident, Chinese life has taken a huge upturn. She no longer has the job that she interviewed for all those years ago, but is doing something more aligned with her dreams. She is currently working as a youth counselor at UMFS, a company that provides youths and families with the tools to overcome some heartbreaking challenges. As for Officer Jenkins, he is still doing his job of protecting and serving the good citizens of Henrico County, Virginia. And as for the future, the people can only hope that this officer's compassion and kindness is infectious to other officers on the police force.