Lois K. Solomon
Sun Sentinel
LAKE WORTH, Fla. — A Palm Beach County teenager picked a random deputy sitting in his patrol car to dance in her video and the officer proved himself a slick performer.
The teen, Vastie Phileus, 17, of Greenacres, said she was tired of her friends dissing law enforcement for alleged misconduct and decided to make a video to show a positive side of policing.
She was driving home from her school, Palm Beach Maritime Academy in Lantana, a few days ago when she noticed Deputy Timothy McCarthy in his car near John Prince Park in Lake Worth.
“It looked like he wasn’t having a good day,” Phileus said.
She made a U-turn, parked and walked over to to the deputy, who has worked for the Sheriff’s Office since 2008.
She asked the deputy if he’d be in her video. McCarthy, 52, told her he wasn’t a great dancer but agreed to the challenge.
They twisted, high-stepped and shimmied to “You’re a Jerk,” by New Boyz, although the Sheriff’s Office changed the song to “The Git Up,” by Blanco Brown, when they posted the video on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/PBCountySheriff/status/1197238796447887360
Phileus said she has a special fondness for law enforcement because her father was a police officer in Haiti before the family moved to the United States.
“A lot of teenagers talk badly about the police,” Phileus said. “This is something we need to change.”