Quintin Montgomery was driving on I-275 in Tampa when traffic suddenly came to a standstill. He ended up rear-ending the vehicle ahead of him, which was a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicle. Sgt. Vance, who was in the patrol car, was not injured and went to check on Quintin and they ended up talking for an hour while waiting for another officer to arrive on the scene. Quintin invited Sgt. Vance to his graduation on May 28 at Jefferson High School and she accepted.
Quintin said, “I told her I had to graduate the next day and then I wasn’t actually sure they would come to my graduation. I feel like they cared about my safety. Even though I wasn’t hurt. I think they cared for my safety.”
Quintin did not receive a ticket and Sgt. Vance said he was not distracted or speeding at the time of the accident. “These tiny moments where you make a little bit of an impact in someone’s life. I’m happy that I got to hopefully do that for him,” said Sgt. Vance.
A Tampa teen invited a Hillsborough County deputy to his graduation after rear-ending her patrol vehicle on the interstate. https://t.co/YtCCT6w8hF
— ABC Action News (@abcactionnews) June 8, 2021