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Why an Ohio cop drove a man 100 miles to his sister's funeral

Instead of arresting a man pulled over for speeding, a Ohio highway patrol officer took pity on his situation and drove him to Detroit to be with family. 

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Mark E. Ross/Facebook
Mark Ross (l) was given a ride to Detroit – 100 miles away – by Sgt. Robison, the Ohio cop who pulled him over for speeding.

A man rushing to meet up with his family after the sudden death of his 15-year-old sister was shown some kindness from an Ohio state police officer who sympathized with him, offering to escort him on the 100-mile journey back home.

“Everybody knows how much I dislike Cops but I am truly Greatful for this Guy,” Mark Ross wrote in a Facebook post Sunday. “He gave me hope.”

In a time when tensions between white police officers and the black community run high, the heartwarming story was a breath of fresh air for many, quickly becoming a viral Facebook post that was shared nearly 100,000 times as of Tuesday afternoon.

Mr. Ross received the news that his sister had been killed in a fatal car crash around 3 a.m. Sunday. He asked an acquaintance, whose driver’s license was suspended, to drive him back home from Indiana to Detroit, where he could grieve alongside his family.

While speeding through Ohio, the two were pulled over by Sgt. David Robison, a state highway patrolman. Ross, who had an outstanding warrant for a misdemeanor that occurred in Wayne County, Mich,, was certain he would be arrested and feared he wouldn’t make it back to his family.

The car’s driver was arrested for operating the vehicle without a proper license, but when alerted to Ross’s location, officers in Wayne County, declined to pick him up, saying the distance was too far.

Without his former ride arrangements, Ross had no way to make it home to his family – until Sgt. Robison offered to take him the rest of the way.

“I explained to the officer that my sister had died and that I needed to get to my mother asap,” Ross wrote. “I broke down crying and he saw the sincerity in my cry. He REACHES OVER AND BEGAN PRAYING OVER ME AND MY FAMILY.”

Robison drove Ross to a restaurant in Detroit, where his family arrived to pick him up. As Ross exited the police cruiser, Robison leaned over and asked if he could continue to pray for him.

“It was so overwhelming it kind of took me away from my own reality,” Ross told Inside Edition.

Touched by Robison’s act of kindness, Ross’s family has invited him to attend the girl’s funeral.

[Editor's note: The original story misspelled Sgt. David Robison's name.]

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