When a Massachusetts policeman saw the list of things two women were trying to steal from a supermarket five days before Christmas, their situation touched their hearts.
“It was all food,” he noted.
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 Stop and Shop and seeing the two young children with the women, who were caught skipping the scanner in the self-checkout queue and placing multiple items straight into your bags.
“I myself have two girls, similar in age to the two girls who were there, so that impressed me a little,” said Lima to local NBC affiliate WJAR.
He was moved when he learned that the mother of the two children had no job and that the food they were stealing was for the holiday dinner. “There was nothing there like health and beauty items, shampoo, nothing like that. It was all food, ”he said. “I just tried to put myself in that family’s shoes and show a little empathy.”
The store issued a “no-trespassing” order for two women.
Somerset police chief George McNeil praised the police officer in a statement that said: “This incident is a true testament to the great character and decisiveness of police officer Lima”