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Prayer, and bracelet, void Mississippi speeding ticket

This is a March, 2015 photograph, taken by Mike Powers Sr., in Shreveport, La., of his son, Mike Powers. Mississippi state trooper Jason Ales says he voided a $200 speeding ticket because Mike Powers a driver caught speeding, expressed concern for police safety. Powers gave the officer an inexpensive wooden bracelet with Christian symbols. Powers said he took the money he would have owed the state and donated that amount to a children's charity in Mississippi. (Photo courtesy of Mike Powers Sr. via AP)
This is a March, 2015 photograph, taken by Mike Powers Sr., in Shreveport, La., of his son, Mike Powers. Mississippi state trooper Jason Ales says he voided a $200 speeding ticket because Mike Powers a driver caught speeding, expressed concern for police safety. Powers gave the officer an inexpensive wooden bracelet with Christian symbols. Powers said he took the money he would have owed the state and donated that amount to a children's charity in Mississippi. (Photo courtesy of Mike Powers Sr. via AP) This is a March, 2015 photograph, taken by Mike Powers Sr., in Shreveport, La., of his son, Mike Powers. Mississippi state trooper Jason Ales says he voided a $200 speeding ticket because Mike Powers a driver caught speeding, expressed concern for police safety. Powers gave the officer an inexpensive wooden bracelet with Christian symbols. Powers said he took the money he would have owed the state and donated that amount to a children's charity in Mississippi. (Photo courtesy of Mike Powers Sr. via AP)

By Associated Press 2 min read

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A Mississippi state trooper says he voided a $200 speeding ticket because the driver expressed concern for police safety. The driver also gave the officer an inexpensive wooden bracelet with Christian symbols.

Trooper Jason Ales, 32, said he was touched by the sentiment and is keeping the bracelet by the dashboard camera in his Highway Patrol vehicle.

The driver, Mike Powers, 27, of Nashville, Tennessee, said he was raised Catholic and while he doesn’t consider himself “overly religious,” he has been giving similar bracelets to friends.

Powers said he has been upset about recent killings of law enforcement officers around the U.S., so he prayed about that Tuesday night during a business trip. A medical company employee, Powers said he was late for a business appointment Wednesday morning and acknowledged he was driving too fast.

Ales said he had stopped Powers after clocking him driving about 80 mph in a 65 mph zone on a four-lane highway about 10 miles west of Oxford.