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One police officer trusted his gut instinct when he asked a woman with four children in her car to pull over after she had run a red light.

Four young siblings were walking to school in Detroit when a woman pulled up next to them in a van.

As seen in Ring surveillance camera footage, the woman coaxed the youngest child into the van. As good siblings, the other three followed to protect their younger brother, but the woman ended up kidnapping all four.

“She preyed on my youngest one. The oldest one didn’t want to leave his youngest brother,” said the children’s mother, Shayla Burleigh to WXYZ. “He did what he had to do.”

Stopped at a red light

The woman drove away with the four children, but she made a huge mistake. She ran a red light and was pulled over by Officers Parrish and Flannel.

One of the officer’s gut instinct told him that something felt off. So, he asked a simple question: “Are these your children? To which she said yes, and the children at the same time were shaking their head no,” explained Chief James White at a press conference.

The perfect question thwarted the kidnapping, and the woman was taken into custody with bail set at $5 million.

Relieved parents

One of the officers, who wasn’t named in the report, said during the press conference that as a father himself, helping these kids was particularly special. “I have kids of my own so this brought me joy to actually get the kids back home to their mother.”

Both parents were extremely grateful that the police did their job correctly and saved their kids.

I just thank everyone involved that my children are back home safe.

Shayla Burleigh

“I just want to congratulate the City of Detroit police officers for performing their duties,” added Keith Lindey, who’s the father of one of the children. “I am thankful.”

Follow your gut

It’s scary to imagine how far the woman would have gotten- or what she would have done with the children- if that officer hadn’t asked the perfect question. His gut feeling led him to pose a question that would lead to the kidnapper’s capture and the kids’ safe return home.

What this story shows is that if something feels off, it might just be, so trust your gut in all that you do.

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