The North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina police department recognized one of their own this week for heroic actions taken during what at first looked like a routine traffic stop.

Officer Wallace pulled over a white Jeep around 5:30 in the morning the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend after the car drove through a red light.

According to Wallace, she noticed that the female driver of the Jeep appeared distressed and, while the passenger was looking away she silently mouthed the words "help me" to communicate her situation with the officer.

It turns out, the woman was kidnapped by the man and was being forced to be a getaway driver because he had just shot someone outside a restaurant.

The Be on the Lookout call for the shooting hadn't even gone out yet and Wallace already had the perp pulled over. She detained the man in the back of her squad car when the call came out about the fleeing suspect.

Once the man was locked in the cruiser, the driver frantically recounted the entire story to the officer.

The man, later identified as 29-year-old Collins Bates, was arrested in connection with the shooting, according to WMBF. North Myrtle Beach police said an unlawfully carried pistol was recovered from under his seat.

Collins allegedly shot someone in the stomach at a South Carolina restaurant and then forced the lady by gunpoint to take him away from the crime scene. Then she ran the light and was able to get police help.

The gun, which Collins had hidden under the passenger seat, matched the caliber used in the shooting, providing even more evidence that Collins was the man police were looking for.

The department praised Wallace for "proactively patrolling" the city's streets "even to the last 30 minutes of her shift."

"Our department and our community is lucky to have Officer Wallace," North Myrtle Beach police wrote. "Great Job!"

Bates has been charged with multiple crimes including kidnapping and attempted murder.