"I love to smile," said police officer Sharnise Hawkins.
It was a peculiar scene as a police officer stood in the pouring rain, grinning from ear to ear, as she escorted a snapping turtle across a Maryland road.
Police Officer Sharnise Hawkins of the Greenbelt Police Department was photographed standing in the middle of the road during a rain storm, making sure no cars hit a turtle that was trying to make its way across the street.
If that wasn't enough, she wore the biggest smile while doing it.
“That’s pretty much just me," she told Inside Edition. "I love to smile."
Hawkins explained she was leaving an Honor Guard ceremony for the department when she saw a couple cars halted on the street. As she made her way closer, she noticed they were slowing down for a turtle.
“I was like, 'Oh my goodness, this is the largest turtle I’ve ever seen,” Hawkins said. “With the tail too, it was definitely more than 12 inches."
Although it was pouring outside, she got out of her car to walk it across the street.
“It was taking its time; I think it was a bit afraid," she said. "It was inching, so I was like, 'OK, I’ll just kind of walk with it as it crosses.'"
Onlookers Carolyn Hammett and her husband, who stopped their car when they saw Hawkins, lent a helping hand. Hammett said her husband got out of the car to offer an umbrella as she grabbed a shovel from her trunk they could put the turtle on.
The three of them were able to pick the turtle up and move it to the other side of the street, where Hawkins said it waddled off into the lake.
Despite ruining her shoes in the 20-minute good deed, Hawkins doesn’t regret a thing.
“This is giving people a little bit of hope for law enforcement," she said. "We aren’t all bad guys — there’s a certain percentage, but the majority of us are just out here wanting to do something good."
RELATED STORIES
