Alexis McCart from Gwinnett, DeKalb County, Georgia, was out with her friends, shopping and catching a bite to eat. On their way home, they were pulled over by cops and had their vehicle searched.
She had no reason to worry about anything, though she did get a solid reason for having her heart skip a beat: her high school sweetheart, DeKalb County Police Officer John Heart, used the fake traffic stop to propose to her. The whole thing was made possible with help from two other officers, Lwerenceville cop Michael Peterson and Patrick Rose.
Of course, everyone but McCart knew what was about to happen, though the future groom himself only decided some hours in advance. He tells the Gwinnett Daily Post that he was debating between 3 different options, but his colleagues offered him the best one: wait until he got off work and they would make sure that McCart would get pulled over for a traffic stop so he could really surprise her.
The proposal took place earlier this month, and McCart tells the publication she’s thinking of an October 4 wedding date: a node to the famous 10-4 police code.
The biggest obstacle Heart and his mates had to overcome was getting McCart out of the car, because she wouldn’t be at the wheel when they performed the fake traffic stop. It’s not standard procedure to ask occupants of a vehicle to get out during traffic stops, so they lied and said they were looking for suspects wanted for theft at a local Walmart, which the girls had just visited.
Peterson and Rose conducted the fake traffic stop and instructed the girls on what to do. When McCart got out, Heart stepped out of the police cruiser and got down on one knee.
“I was so nervous; I didn’t know what was going on,” McCart says. “Then [Peterson] got us out of the car, and I was like, ‘Why is he doing this? What is going on?’ I turned around and there [Heart] was, and I just started bawling. I was in such shock – you can tell by the picture. I literally had no clue.”
Of course, everyone but McCart knew what was about to happen, though the future groom himself only decided some hours in advance. He tells the Gwinnett Daily Post that he was debating between 3 different options, but his colleagues offered him the best one: wait until he got off work and they would make sure that McCart would get pulled over for a traffic stop so he could really surprise her.
The proposal took place earlier this month, and McCart tells the publication she’s thinking of an October 4 wedding date: a node to the famous 10-4 police code.
The biggest obstacle Heart and his mates had to overcome was getting McCart out of the car, because she wouldn’t be at the wheel when they performed the fake traffic stop. It’s not standard procedure to ask occupants of a vehicle to get out during traffic stops, so they lied and said they were looking for suspects wanted for theft at a local Walmart, which the girls had just visited.
Peterson and Rose conducted the fake traffic stop and instructed the girls on what to do. When McCart got out, Heart stepped out of the police cruiser and got down on one knee.
“I was so nervous; I didn’t know what was going on,” McCart says. “Then [Peterson] got us out of the car, and I was like, ‘Why is he doing this? What is going on?’ I turned around and there [Heart] was, and I just started bawling. I was in such shock – you can tell by the picture. I literally had no clue.”