29 June 2023
EMPORIA, Kan. (KSNT) – What started as a parking complaint turned into a viral TikTok that left everyone smiling.
Emporia police officer Grady Carl was out on patrol when he was sent to a neighborhood for a parking complaint. He asked the family involved what was going on and found out they were celebrating an 18th birthday party.
Instead of writing a ticket, Carl asked them to just move the car off the road. That’s when they invited him inside to join the party. One thing lead to another, and Carl ended up riding a mechanical bull straight into TikTok stardom.
“To have a call where you get to go and change it to a good wholesome event, it’s happy, it’s a celebration, 18-year-old birthday party,” Carl said. “A girl going into a womanhood, having fun with friends. You don’t want to go give out parking tickets and fine people for that, they’re having a fun celebration.”
“For the community and relationship, you know now you got violence and stuff going on, but these videos lighten up the world a little bit,” resident and TikTok video creator Orlando Castillo said.
To date, the viral TikTok of Carl has garnered nearly seven million views.