A mom is arrested for stealing food, but the cops change their mind: she and her children had an empty fridge
What happens when a policeman is faced with a crime committed out of necessity? Although the law must necessarily be respected by all citizens, without exception, it's also difficult to apply the same treatment in every situation. When two North Carolina police officers responded to a report of theft at a local supermarket, they quickly set out on the thief's trail, but found themselves confronted by a mother in financial distress who, in a desperate gesture, had stolen some food to feed her children. The woman didn't think twice about handing over the stolen food - a value of about $36 - but the police officers immediately realized that the crime had been committed out of pure and simple necessity.
via Facebook / Hillsborough Police Department
Facebook / Hillsborough Police Department
Corporal Keith Bradshaw and Officer Candace Spragins located the offender, guilty of stealing the groceries from the "Food Lion" supermarket in Hillsborough, North Carolina, but didn't imagine that it would be a mother in difficulty. The supermarket in question had filed a complaint because $36 worth of food had been stolen, but the two policemen, when they showed up at the home of the perpetrator of the crime, understood what the problem really was. The woman had stolen some food to feed herself and her children after three days of fasting. Corporal Bradshaw even looked inside the woman's refrigerator and, much to his chagrin, found that it was completely empty. In such a situation, the agents wanted to make their contribution to alleviating the situation for the family.
While the woman stood in front of the magistrate, accused of stealing, the officers went to the supermarket and bought her $140 worth of food, funding it all out of their own pockets, to support her and her family. After that, they drove her home. The woman, in her desperation, admitted that she was wrong, of course, but that was the only way to get her son something to eat: "I had to go out to steal some food, it's desperate, I know, I'm sorry for what I've done, but my children were hungry." The woman, of course, was accused of theft, but the good deed from these policemen certainly helped her get back on the right foot: when you're in trouble, you need to ask for help. Hillsborough Police say they're there to help citizens with that too.
