Manatee deputies crash children's lemonade stand

BRADENTON (FOX 13) - Neighbors were admittedly shocked when four Manatee County sheriff's patrol vehicles charged up, lights flashing, to a children's lemonade stand Saturday.

But it turned out, they weren't there to shut the operation down. The deputies were just really thirsty, apparently.

Matthew Cooper posted a video on his Facebook page and recalled what happened.

"The grandkids across the street from us had a MAJOR surprise today when these Manatee County Deputies came "charging up" to their lemonade stand!" Cooper wrote. "I was thinking they might be there to close the kids down ... but NO! They came up, bought some lemonade for themselves, 'deputized' the kids, then visited for about 10 minutes!!"

The group of deputies even included the patrol sergeant.

Cooper added it was a memory the kids were sure to treasure for a long time to come.

Cooper's post was shared nearly 1,000 times in just a few days, and the Manatee County Sheriff's Office posted a similar video of the event on its Facebook page.