HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF. — Who says police work can’t sometimes be fun and games?

Officer Scott Marsh was on patrol when he spotted what he believed was a suspicious vehicle in a parking lot at Cross Park near Graham Street and Edinger Avenue on Wednesday morning.

He then learned that a woman and her 11-year-old daughter had been living out of their car, said Officer Jennifer Marlatt, spokeswoman for the Huntington Beach Police Department.

Marsh contacted the department’s Homeless Task Force to arrange housing for the pair. While a task force officer talked with the woman, Officer Zach Pricer began playing hopscotch with the daughter.

“It distracted her from an adult problem,” Marlatt said.

Pricer, a 13-year veteran, said he used hopscotch as a tool to learn more about the girl’s welfare.

“For an 11-year-old girl, to see a police officer towering over her is a scary thing,” said Pricer, 38. “I was trying to break the ice and get her to feel comfortable with me.”

On Thursday, March 31, a Homeless Task Force officer was working to find housing for the mother and daughter.

Source: OC Register