A police officer from Massachusetts is going viral for buying a Christmas meal for a family caught stealing groceries.
Officer Mat Lima explains how he witnessed two women trying to steal groceries, just days before Christmas time. After looking at the products, he realized that ‘it was only food’. Therefore, the whole situation touched his heart in more ways than one.
Instead of arresting them and calling them out for their wrong behavior, he actually bought them a gift card worth $250 so that they could pay for their Christmas dinner.
Matt Lima hails from the Somerset Police Department. He explained how he responded to a sudden call from a local grocery stop and shop. After hearing the complaint, he rushed over immediately to find the woman who skipped the scanner. This way, they tried to escape without getting caught for stealing food.
However, before officer Lima could take action, he saw how two young kids accompanied the women. And after observing how their list of items were solely edibles, his heart broke into pieces.
The women attempted to make a quick escape by putting several food items straight into their bags at the self-checkout counter.
Meanwhile, officer Lima explained how he has two young daughters himself, and they were very similar to the age of the young girls at the crime scene. Hence, the whole situation struck him a little bit.
He admits how moved he became after witnessing it all. In the same way, he says that after investigating the matter, he found out how the mother of the two kids had no job. Hence, she was stealing groceries so she could prepare a holiday meal for Christmas day.
“There was nothing else on there like health or beauty items, shampoos, etc,” he mentioned. “It was literally all food.” For this reason, officer Lima said that he tried to put himself in their shoes, and show a little bit of empathy. This was his act of kindness during the holiday time.
On the other hand, the store issued the women a ‘no trespass’ order. After learning about the incident, Somerset’s Police Chief praised the cop for his behavior.
He also released an official press statement that said, “This incident is a true example of Officer Lima’s exemplary character as well as decision making.”