Indiana police officer's shoe-tying good deed goes viral

FORT WAYNE, Ind., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- An Indiana police officer is being praised after a photo of him helping a young boy tie his shoe went viral on social media.

Fort Wayne resident Melissa Caballero said in a Facebook post she noticed a city police officer in his patrol car talking to two kids walking down the street.

"He rolled down his window and talked to a few kids and noticed one had a shoe that was untied," Caballero wrote. "The cop said something about the shoe (I wasn't close enough to hear but the officer was pointing at the shoe). The cop then got out of his car and tied the little boy's shoe. Thank you officer for showing our youth that cops aren't always the bad guys they are made out to be!"

Caballero said she was sitting on her porch Nov. 26 waiting for family to arrive for Thanksgiving dinner when she spotted the scene.

"I got my phone out immediately to take a picture because that's something I've never personally witnessed," Caballero told WANE-TV.

The man in the photo was identified as Fort Wayne Police Officer Ricky Howard.

Caballero said she wants to thank Howard for "taking the time to do a random act of kindness. Not only did you help that child, you impacted others. Believe me, more people saw that than you realize."