Somerville officer honored for compassion shown after traffic stop

SOMERVILLE, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) – A Somerville police officer was honored Tuesday for the kindness she showed a woman after a traffic stop.

Somerville Police Officer Ashley Catatao sent flowers to a woman she pulled over earlier this month after learning the woman's mother was entering hospice.

"You’re never ready to say goodbye to a parent. I just felt bad because I just can’t imagine the pain she was going through,” Catatao said.

The driver, Robin Sutherland, was sent on her way with just a warning for speeding and received the flowers from the officer with a signed note from "the officer that pulled you over this morning."

“I clearly was just tooling around distracted until I saw somebody wave at me and I realized she was waiving me over," Sutherland said.

On Tuesday, Catatao was given the Beyond the Call of Duty Award for the kindness and compassion she showed Sutherland.

Cox Media Group