A photo of a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police officer comforting a girl who’d been involved in a car accident went viral.
Baton Rouge Sergeant Duke Staples was responding to a car accident earlier this week and arrived to find a 4-year-old girl wandering around the scene with no shoes on, walking on broken glass that was scattered throughout the road. According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, the girl’s mother and sister were both injured in the crash and were being stabilized when Staples discovered the girl.
“Sgt. Staples took the 4 year old under his care and comforted her until EMS was able to stabilize the sister and prepare her for transport to the hospital,” the police department wrote on their Facebook page after a photo of the girl in Staples’ arms went viral.
“A family member later arrived to take care of this precious angel while her mother and sister were transported to the hospital for treatment.”
The department acknowledged Staples in the post for going above and beyond to comfort and protect the little girl while her family members were treated.
“We want to take this opportunity to recognize Sergeant Duke Staples for his service and kindness to a little girl who had just experienced a tragic incident,” the post read.
After the photo went viral, viewers online praised Staples for a job well done.
“He took his badge off and went into father mode,” commenter Monique Bennett Sanders wrote. “How sweet of you, his first impression will be the last impression he had on this Lil angel. God bless you Sgt. Staples.”