Park City Officer Goes Viral For Helping Teen With Homecoming Tie
Sep 23, 2019, 7:56 PM | Updated: Jul 16, 2023, 3:37 pm
PARK CITY, Utah – A Park City Police officer is going viral for helping a teen get ready for his homecoming dance after pulling him over.
The quick exchange Saturday night could have ended in a traffic citation. Instead, it’s a moment being shared throughout our community – and it’s making a lot of people smile.
Park City High School senior Jacob DeLeo was running behind schedule on his way to meet his homecoming date.
“I was already running late for our pictures and our whole group was there and they were texting me wondering where I was,” DeLeo said.
In his rush to get ready, DeLeo realized he didn’t know how to properly tie his tie.
He said he hustled his mom out the door to drive him to find help.
While making their way to the picture site, they were pulled over by Park City Police officer Mike Carillo.
Carillo, who has been on the force for more than a decade, said this traffic stop seemed a little different.
“I was looking at my computer and I was having a little bit of a hard time on whether or not I was going to issue a citation or not,” he said. “He looked like he was a little upset.”
In a moment of desperation, DeLeo asked the officer for a little help.
“He got out of the car and I originally put the tie on myself to tie it first but it was too short, so I put it on him and readjusted it,” Carillo said.
The whole interaction was caught on cell phone video where it was uploaded to Facebook.
WATCH: "It seems so simple," the high school senior said. "But, I never had anyone teach me how to tie a tie." This Park City Police officer turned a traffic stop into a teaching moment instead of writing a ticket. #KSLTV KSL 5 TV Park City Police Department-Utah
Posted by Ashley Kewish KSL on Monday, September 23, 2019
In the video, you can hear DeLeo thanking the police officer.
When Carillo became a police officer, he promised to protect and serve his community.
“The reason I became a cop is to help,” he said.
As of Saturday night, that includes a little wardrobe assistance – showing that sometimes, the smallest acts can help in a big way.
“It seemed simple,” DeLeo said. “(It was) just tying a tie, but I never really had anyone teach me that.”
“I just wanted for him to not have a bad day and I could see he was already having a bad day,” Carillo said.
DeLeo made it to the dance on time and said the officer was “clutch” in coming through for him.
“The tie was perfect,” DeLeo said with a smile. “I was actually really happy because I was worried I wasn’t even going to have a tie on at all.”
