Mississippi State Trooper voids speeding ticket after prayer bracelet gesture

Monday, September 7, 2015
JACKSON, MS (KTRK) -- 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, a Baptist deacon, says he was touched by the sentiment and is keeping the bracelet by his dashboard camera.

The driver, 27-year-old Mike Powers of Nashville, Tennessee, says he's not "overly religious," but has been giving similar bracelets to friends.
[Ads /]
Powers says he has been upset about recent killings of law enforcement officers around the U.S., so as Ales handed him a ticket Wednesday, Powers said he supports police and handed the trooper the bracelet.

"I told him I want you to have this. Hopefully, if you ever needed to, God forbid, it will come in handy and keep you safe," Powers told WJTV-TV.

"I was so touched by it I almost teared up there," said Ales. "With the stuff that's going on with officers, that right there was so positive we needed that, I mean I needed that,"



Trooper Ales decided to void the speeding ticket. Powers then donated the fine he would have owed for driving 80 in a 65 mph zone near Oxford to a Mississippi children's charity.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2026 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.