{"id":82,"date":"2025-09-24T18:49:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T18:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/good-worldwide.go-vip.net\/upworthy\/2025\/09\/24\/officer-hugs-angry-woman\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T18:49:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T18:49:00","slug":"officer-hugs-angry-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/24\/officer-hugs-angry-woman\/","title":{"rendered":"North Carolina officer embraces woman who was being hostile during traffic stop"},"content":{"rendered":"

Usually, when someone gets pulled over<\/a>, they quickly run through all of the things they could’ve done wrong that would result in a ticket. No driver is having a good time when the blue lights of a police car<\/a> start flashing behind them. Depending on your life experiences, emotions can range from slightly annoyed<\/a> to downright terrified. <\/p>\n

For Katelyn Ricchini, encounters with the police usually meant she was going to jail, so when she got pulled over for speeding in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, she didn’t expect any different.<\/p>\n

When Cabarrus County Deputy Shawn Singleton approached Ricchini’s window, he was met with hostility. Ricchini was angry and let him know by her attitude that she had no intention of pretending to be cordial to someone who was about to give her a ticket, or worse. <\/p>\n

\n

\"North
Police officer patrols on a motorcycle downtown. Photo credit: Canva<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

The entire interaction was caught on Singleton’s body camera, but it wasn’t the bad attitude that had WSOC-TV’s Hannah Goetz chasing down the video<\/a> for nearly six months. This hostile situation had an ending fit for a heartfelt novel, and with so many people feeling unsettled about the world, this moment is much-needed balm for bruised hearts. <\/p>\n

In the video, the deputy tells Ricchini, who was just leaving church, that she was stopped because she was going 61 mph in a 45 mph zone. <\/p>\n

What should’ve been a fairly straightforward interaction turned into a lesson in slowing down to see what others are going through. Ricchini admits to having a bad attitude when Singleton approached, but his response is what made all the difference in the outcome. On the bodycam footage, Ricchini can be heard asking if she’s not allowed to have a bad day.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

“No, everybody is entitled to a bad day. I can understand that completely, okay, but like, I\u2019m trying to be nice and courteous to you, and like, I\u2019m getting a lot of heat off,” Singleton replies. <\/p>\n

This is when the truth starts to tumble out of Ricchini. She explains to the officer that she hasn’t had good experiences with police officers, and she “can’t stand cops.” While this may have caused other officers to respond differently, Singleton decided to let her off with a warning for speeding after running her license. Sensing something else was going on, the deputy simply asks, “Are you good?” The answer was no.<\/p>\n

\n

\"North
Police officer checking driver's license during routine traffic stop. Photo credit: Canva<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no, my anxiety is killing me,\u201d Ricchini tells him. \u201cI come from a background. I\u2019m clean and sober now, OK…I\u2019ve always had bad incidents with cops.” <\/p>\n

After validating her feelings about her previous interactions with other officers, he still knew she needed a moment of human-to-human contact, so he asked if she needed a hug. Ricchini began to sob while the officer held her. Through her tears, she explains that she left an abusive relationship, leaving her five-year-old son behind while she got sober and stable. The woman had been struggling with how difficult everything had been, but remained sober. <\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve never hugged a cop before, I\u2019ve always been put in handcuffs by them,” she tells WSOC-TV, adding, “I told him, I\u2019m ready to give up. I was actually on my way to probably do something that wasn\u2019t in my best interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"North
Warm embrace on a city street. Photo credit: Canva<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

It’s been six months since Ricchini had that interaction with Singleton, and has since gained full-time employment, and has her son living with her. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe saw me as a person, not an addict,” Ricchini tells WSOC-TV. “And he saw my heart. I have potential. When so many people had counted me out, and so many people just lost hope and lost faith in me, he saw something.”<\/p>\n

Singleton shares, “I try to show mercy and grace where I can, because that\u2019s what I believe is the calling for myself and for law enforcement is, that\u2019s what most of us get into. We want to be there to help.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI told him, I\u2019m ready to give up.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":187561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"alternative_headline":"","alternative_description":"","alternative_featured_image":0,"rkv_announcement":{"visible":true},"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"partner_boost":false,"hide_partner_badge":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[203,177,146],"tags":[135,2623,2624,2625,2626,2627,2628,2629,2630,2371,2631,2632,2633,2634],"sponsor":[],"rkv-people-shadow":[167],"class_list":["post-82","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-joy","category-popular","tag-popular_source-pageview","tag-abusive-relationship","tag-anxiety-relief","tag-bad-day","tag-body-camera-footage","tag-emotional-reaction","tag-fulltime-employment","tag-heartfelt-moment","tag-hostile-attitude","tag-human-connection","tag-mercy-and-grace","tag-officer-hugs-woman","tag-police-encounter","tag-traffic-stop"],"edit_link":null,"apple_news_notices":[],"rkv_author":{"id":46,"name":"Jacalyn Wetzel","display_name":"Jacalyn Wetzel","first_name":"","last_name":"","nickname":"matt-martin","url":"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/author\/jacalyn-wetzel\/","link":"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/author\/jacalyn-wetzel\/","description":"

\n\tJacalyn is a writer, licensed clinical social worker, and mother of 4. She has a passion for social justice and mental health.\n<\/p>","slug":"jacalyn-wetzel","avatar_urls":[],"email":false},"yoast_head":"\nNorth Carolina officer embraces woman who was being hostile during traffic stop - QA Upworthy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/24\/officer-hugs-angry-woman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"North Carolina officer embraces woman who was being hostile during traffic stop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cI told him, I\u2019m ready to give up."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/24\/officer-hugs-angry-woman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"QA Upworthy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-24T18:49:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/origin-77979.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jacalyn Wetzel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jacalyn Wetzel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/24\/officer-hugs-angry-woman\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/24\/officer-hugs-angry-woman\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Danny Cohen\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/#\/schema\/person\/00e013a2a0dd699bca424f4bfc4eea58\"},\"headline\":\"North Carolina officer embraces woman who was being hostile during traffic stop\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-24T18:49:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/24\/officer-hugs-angry-woman\/\"},\"wordCount\":735,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/24\/officer-hugs-angry-woman\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/origin-77979.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"~popular_source-pageview\",\"abusive relationship\",\"anxiety relief\",\"bad day\",\"body camera footage\",\"emotional reaction\",\"fulltime employment\",\"heartfelt moment\",\"hostile attitude\",\"human connection\",\"mercy and grace\",\"officer hugs woman\",\"police encounter\",\"traffic stop\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Community\",\"Joy\",\"Popular\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2025\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/24\/officer-hugs-angry-woman\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/24\/officer-hugs-angry-woman\/\",\"name\":\"North Carolina officer embraces woman who was being hostile during traffic stop - 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