Florida deputy who pulled over driver given ultimate excuse: 'That’s the reason why I’m speeding'

Dillon Thompson
Updated ·2 min read

A Florida police officer who pulled over a speeding driver earlier this week thought he was making a routine traffic stop.

Deputy Robert Pounds was in for a huge surprise when he stopped a man going 63 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone. It led to the officer doing something he'd never done in his 26-year career: deliver a baby.

The man Pounds pulled over was Wilfrid Jean-Louis, who was rushing his pregnant wife, Fabienne Gorges, to the hospital, according to Today. The mom-to-be was screaming in the passenger seat when Jean-Louis stopped his car.

"Officer, you have the right to stop me, I'm not gonna even lie," Jean-Louis, 36, told Pounds. "We have a baby coming out. That's the reason why I'm speeding."

Pounds originally thought the couple was just making an elaborate excuse, but then he saw the baby's head crowning.

"I had to scream out for help because I was in shock," Jean-Louis said. "I didn't know what was gonna happen."

In the video of the event, which has been shared more than 400 times, Pounds can be seen attempting to call for backup before going to his car for gloves and a blanket.

The next thing he knew, the deputy — and father of three — was delivering a child.

"I laid the blanket down and it wasn't too long after that I was holding a newborn baby in my hands,'' Pounds told Today. "I guess you could say it was just my training that kicked in. The baby did most of the work, we'll put it that way."

It was an experience that seemed to create a connection between Pounds and the family. The Collier County Sheriff's Office even posted an image to Facebook of the officer posing with Jean-Louis after the incident. Both men are smiling.

Their relationship didn't end there, though. The couple named their new daughter Leila Robert Jean-Louis — giving her a middle name that would forever remind them of Pounds.

"It was only right,'' Wilfrid Jean-Louis said. "It was only fair. He was there, and he did what I wasn't able to do."

As for the speeding ticket, Pounds figured it was worth letting it slide.

"Due to the nature of the circumstances, Jean-Louis was not given any citations, and he left shortly after the ambulance left with his wife and new daughter," the officer's police report said.