Henry Co. traffic stop leads to prom proposal

PARIS, Tenn. — A traffic stop took an interesting turn Monday in Henry County.

“We’re going to light the car up here,” Henry County Sheriff Monte Belew said.

Belew pulled over a car on Highway 79 North in Paris. “Get prepared to issue one of the best tickets I’ve ever written,” he said.

Hunter Fletcher was driving the car. “When I come by the cop, I romped on it a little bit and got his attention,” he said.

Fletcher’s girlfriend, Emma Hawkins, was in the passenger seat. Both are seniors at Henry County High School.

“We pulled over, and she told me she hated me,” Fletcher said. “Said I knew better than to be driving like that.”

Belew ordered Hawkins out of the car. “You have the right to remain silent,” Belew said. “You understand that? Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”

Belew told Hawkins he was going to write her a ticket and asked her to read it. “Prom ticket for Emma Hawkins,” she read. “Hunter Fletcher wants to know will you go to the prom with me?”

Hawkins said yes. “Well, I need you to sign right here at that X, ma’am,” Belew said.

Hawkins said once she figured out what was really going on she couldn’t say no. “I was really scared at first,” she said.

Fletcher said he came up with the idea several months ago and that it didn’t take too much convincing to get Belew on board. “We do get to be a part of a lot of good things, and this is one of them,” Belew said.

Fletcher and Hawkins are headed to the prom together in May.

Belew said Fletcher was not speeding and both teens had on their seat belts. The stop also happened on Hawkins’ 18th birthday.