Police officer helps new residents following crash

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - A Jonesboro police officer showed new residents the meaning of southern hospitality.

A crash at the intersection of Caraway and Highland saw a vehicle flip before landing on the grass upside down.

Officer Madison Dobbs arrived at the scene and helped the victims in the other car.

“They were just driving, and the car turned in front of them and next thing you know, they flipped in front of them,” she said.

She found out they had groceries and had driven about a half mile before the crash; she also found out they were new to the area when she asked for identification.

Dobbs got a driver’s license from California; they had just moved to the area and closed on a house just days before. While one of the victims was loaded into the ambulance, she asked what they needed from their car.

They had just gotten groceries.

“I looked in the trunk and I saw about ten bags and a case of water,” Dobbs said.

Knowing the car, which was a rental, would make its way to the tow yard and the groceries would have gone to waste, officer Dobbs offered to take the groceries back to the victims’ home.

“I know how hard it is to go out and buy food and she literally just left Walmart, she wasn’t even a mile down the road, so I was like, ‘I’m going to take these groceries’,” she said.

The victims were surprised by the police’s actions.

“She said, ‘thank you so much.’ She couldn’t believe it, she’s from California and she said, ‘Officers there don’t… wouldn’t do that’,” she said.

The officer took the groceries home and even put cold items in the refrigerator, so they wouldn’t spoil.

A recommendation was put forward for officer Dobbs to recognize her for her actions.

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