Texas Police Chief pulls over 12-year-old girl

THRALL, TX (KTBC) -- On a quiet street in Thrall, Sierra and Bryce Koehne can usually be found riding around in their six-month-old Ford F150 Hot Wheels truck.

"They pretty much ride it every day that we're home," Sierra and Bryce's mother Erin Koehne said.

Luckily, the streets in the small town are safe enough for kids to play in and around most of the time.

"Thrall is a really nice community. There are cops always patrolling this area, so you really feel secure," Erin said.

So when the two children were rolling down their block and a Thrall police car appeared behind them, they thought nothing of it.

"I saw him coming, but I thought it was far away enough that I could go," said Sierra.

Then red lights started flashing.

"First time I actually got pulled over by them," Sierra said.

"He said, 'I need your license,' and I was just smiling. I didn't have one. I'm not old enough," Sierra added.

It didn't take long for 12-year-old Sierra to realize this wasn't a typical traffic stop.

"I'm just like, 'Bryce, this is weird,' and I thought he was going to have to call our parents or something," said Sierra.

Police said the only crime the two children committed was failing to recognize their police chief is a bit of a prankster. This time around Sierra and Bryce got off with a warning and a beanie baby.

"I think it made a lasting impression on her and a positive impact on her life," said Thrall Police Chief Whitney Whitworth who initiated the traffic stop.

"It's priceless, the look on her face when she walked in the house," said Erin.

Chief Whitworth said he hopes every small act of kindness will help make Thrall a better place to live and build a positive relationship between the people and the officers who protect them.

"They make themselves well known just by patrolling the area, stopping to tell you hi, they're very friendly and really easy to get to know and everything," Erin said.

"I feel like if anything happened on one of these streets, any of these people would step out to help me," Whitworth said.

Sierra and her brother Bryce might be first in line, because the chief's practical joke left them practically glowing.

"It meant a lot because I know it's really, really hard for them and they have a bunch of jobs to do," said Sierra.