At one point or another, every motorist has been guilty of cutting corners, so to speak, on the road. People simply get impatient sometimes. They want to get where they’re going faster.
While Gabriela Barajas was definitely in a rush when she committed a traffic violation, it wasn’t for convenience or selfish reasons. She had somewhere very important to be, she told Judge Frank Caprio on the show, “Caught in Providence.”
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The Rhode Island mom recently appeared in Providence Municipal Court after being caught rolling through a red light in the city. Her teenage daughter came as well to help translate as needed. Gabriela can speak some English, but not fluently.
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Judge Caprio asked whether Gabriela had anything she’d like to say about the incident. As her daughter explained, it had been the last day of her radiation treatments. Gabriela has breast cancer. She’d been leaving her appointment when she realized she was late picking her two daughters up from school. So all she could think about was getting to them as fast as she could.
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Known for his kind nature, Judge Caprio immediately changed the subject. “Tell her I want to talk about important things,” he said before asking how Gabriela was feeling.
“I’m just tired,” the mom answered, weariness evident in her voice. She had just finished all her chemo and radiation treatments, after all. Caprio couldn’t fault her for that, especially when she was just looking out for her daughters.
“You know, we have a saying. Look at the world through the eyes of the people you are speaking to,” Caprio said. “Based just on that, right, looking at the world through her eyes and making a decision, I’m going to dismiss the case.”
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Then, driving the point home that he truly cares, Caprio wished Gabriela good luck. And, becoming more Grandpa Caprio than Judge Caprio, he made her daughter promise to stay in school and go to college.
The teen proudly shared that she already had plans to study criminal justice at New England Tech – and that she would have dismissed the case as well.
“Okay, you make your mother proud, right,” Caprio said before turning to Gabriela. “We’re rooting for you.”
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We’d all be lucky to be treated with the compassion Caprio shows others every day at work. The world needs more people like this wonderful man. We’re rooting for you, too, Gabriela! Keep fighting!
Watch as the exhausted mom gets the much-needed break she deserves in the video below. Share to spread thanks for all the people out there as kind and understanding as Caprio.
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