When a Massachusetts police officer saw the list of things two women were trying to steal from a grocery store five days before Christmas, his situation touched his heart.
“It was all food,” he observed.
So instead of arresting them, he bought a $ 250 gift card to pay for Christmas dinner.
Officer Matt Lima of the Somerset Police Department paid for dinner after answering a call at the local stall and store and seeing the two young children with the women, who had been caught jumping the scanner on the line self-control and putting various items. directly in your bags.
“I myself have two girls, similar in age to the two girls who were there, so it surprised me a bit,” Lima told NBC’s local affiliate, WJAR.
He was thrilled to learn that the mother of two had no job and the food they stole was for holiday dinner. “There was nothing else like health and beauty items, shampoo, anything like that. It was all food,” he said. “I just tried to put myself in this family’s shoes and show a little empathy.”
The store issued two “non-transgression” orders to two women.
Somerset Police Chief George McNeil praised the officer in a statement saying, “This incident is a true testament to Officer Lima’s great character and decision-making.”