We’ve all been there: you’re running late for an appointment and you look down to discover you’re driving over the speed limit.
Most of the time we’re able to slow down and check ourselves before getting in trouble, but every once in a while those blue lights show up in your rearview and it’s time to face the music. That’s exactly how 96-year-old Victor Coella of Providence, Rhode Island, ended up in district court facing judge Frank Caprio.
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Victor had been driving his 63-year-old son to a doctor’s appointment when he was pulled over for speeding in a school zone. This offense carries heftier fines than merely speeding, and Victor looked quite rattled as he took his seat and addressed the judge.
The honorable Judge Caprio is a well-known face on the internet thanks to his humor, compassion, and straight-forward manner of addressing the people in his courtroom. After videos of Judge Caprio’s kind rulings went viral on social media he was tapped to appear on a judicial television program called “Caught in Providence.”
True to form, as soon as Judge Caprio met Victor and heard his story he was less inclined to throw the man in jail than he was to praise him for his devotion to his family.
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“I don’t drive that fast, judge. I’m 96 years old and I drive slowly,” Victor explained. “I was going to the blood work for my boy. He’s handicapped.”
With a little prodding, the judge learned that Victor had been going a little too quickly through the school zone because he has to bring his son, who has cancer, to get blood work every two weeks. He explained that he doesn’t drive at all if he can help it, but when he has to he goes slowly – except for this one time.
As soon as Judge Caprio heard Victor’s reason both men teared up a bit. There is a powerful undercurrent of emotion in the courtroom, so naturally, the judge decided to add some much-needed levity to the situation. Pointing out his own son in the courtroom (who by the way looks shockingly similar to his father!), Judge Caprio laughingly tells Victor, “You’re setting a bad example for my son. You’re putting a lot of pressure on me!”
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After lightening the mood a bit, Judge Caprio lays out what he’s really thinking: “You are a good man,” he tells Victor. “You really are what America is all about. Here you are in your 90s and you’re still taking care of your family.”
As the old man works to contain his tears, Judge Caprio hands down the sentence we all want for this poor guy: case dismissed. “I wish you all the best,” he tells Victor. “I wish the best for your son. I wish you good health, and your case is dismissed. Good luck to you and God bless you.”
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Speeding in a school zone is not okay, but neither is punishing an elderly man who’s just trying to do right by his family. Yet again Judge Caprio’s kindness and compassion are on point in this case!
Watch the judge’s ruling in the video below, and be sure to share this sweet story with others.
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