Cop Gets Call From Frantic Mom at 3 AM - Goes Above And Beyond To "Serve"

Mom of Newborn Makes Frantic Middle-of-the-Night Call to Police

It was the wee hours of the morning when Corporal Hunter Willoughby received a "frantic phone call from a post-partum mom" unable to feed her infant. She explained that her milk had dried up and she couldn't find anywhere to buy formula.

Knowing it’s not an option NOT to feed a newborn baby, Officer Willoughby immediately jumped into action.

In footage recorded on his body camera and shared on the Miami Township Police Facebook page, it was 3:18 am when he arrived at a closed Meijer grocery store.

According to the signage, it wouldn't open until 10 am. Not one to be deterred, he started banging loudly on the locked front door. When no one answered, he tried again.

"I know there's people in there working," you can hear him say on the recording. He moved around the building and tried banging on another window, this time flashing his flashlight on and off in an attempt to get someone's attention. It worked.

"That’s one mighty bright light you got there,” the employee quipped as she unlocked the door.

"There is a mom. She said her milk dried up, and she can't find anywhere to buy formula. Is there anybody in here who can turn on a cash register … because I'll buy it for her and take it to her?" he asked.

“I believe so,” she answered, letting him inside.

The footage then cuts to him standing in the formula aisle, perusing the gazillion options and relatably asking, "What the heck's the difference?" before settling on one.

He thinks he's home-free until another employee asks if he needs a bottle. "Good thinking," he responds before heading back to the baby aisle to pick up a package of bottles.

Going Above and Beyond For Community

Willoughby told Fox19 that when he received the call for the formula, he only told the mom he would call her back.

“I went and purchased the formula and was able to call her on my way and tell her I’d be there in a few minutes and surprised her with the formula,” Willoughby said.

“She actually had the baby with her on the front step and was able to give her the formula."

In the caption on the Facebook post, police chief Mike Mills commended Officer Willoughby for his actions, calling it "the Miami Township Way."

"You don't often hear about everything a police officer does in the course of their shift, but I do and this is an example of the Miami Township Way," he wrote.

Chief Mills also shared that not only did Officer Willoughby pick up the needed supplies and deliver them to the "appreciative mother" but he went above and beyond, buying them on his own dime AND refusing payment.

"Cpl Willoughby personally purchase[d] some formula and bottles for the mother and delivered the items to the appreciative mother and he refused to accept any payment for the formula or bottles."

Willoughby's act of kindness didn't come as a shock.

“He does a good job and he does this kind of stuff all of the time,” Mills said. “It just doesn’t hit the airwaves, it doesn’t hit social media, this is prototypical of him and all of the officers here in Miami Township. It makes me proud to be their chief.”

According to the police department, thousands have been inspired by Officer Willoughby's good deed, with some even sending gift cards and formula to the department and offering to donate to help other mothers in need as well.

Police officers are sworn to protect and serve, but in this case, one took the “serve” part of his commitment very much to heart.