Less than a week before Christmas Day last month, a Massachusetts police officer responded to a reported shoplifting in progress at a local Stop & Shop. However, once he’d arrived at the scene, he didn’t end up making any arrests.
Instead, he generously paid for the suspects’ groceries so they could make a delicious holiday dinner to enjoy with their families.
On December 20, Somerset Police Officer Matt Lima responded to the shoplifting report at the grocery store where he spoke to an asset protection associate.
According to a post on the department’s website , the associate told Lima that he had observed two women with two young children approach a self-checkout kiosk at the store and allegedly not pay for many of their grocery items.
The women placed both their scanned and un-scanned products into bags at the machine, and then walk out of the store with their haul.
After printing out the pair’s receipt from the self-checkout, the associate realized they had shoplifted several of their items.
The women and their children were then asked to come back inside the Stop & Shop with the groceries while they waited for police to show up.
It was while Officer Lima was questioning the suspects that he discovered the women had fallen on hard times, and couldn’t afford to pay for a Christmas dinner to feed their children.
Their story touched the officer’s heart, who later admitted, “The two children with the women reminded me of my kids, so I had to help them out.”
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Rather than arrest the suspects, he served them Notice Not to Trespass forms, and then told the associate who reported the shoplifting that no criminal charges would be pressed, as all the missing products on the receipt were grocery items.
Then he did something even more incredible.
Officer Lima purchased $250 worth of gift cards with his own money, which he then gave to the two women with instructions to buy food for their Christmas dinner at another Stop & Shop.
“Obviously, this family was in need and I can’t imagine having to make the decision to go to Stop and Shop and just only pay for what I can afford — or do I go there and try to take things for Christmas dinner for the kids?” Lima told WJAR .
“They were very thankful, they were kind of shocked,” he continued. “I’m sure a lot of people in that same situation would be thinking that there was going to be a different outcome, and maybe they would be arrested or have to go to court.”
Lima has since been praised for the kindness he showed the two women that day.
“I would like to personally commend Officer Lima for his actions,” Chief McNeil said on the department’s website . “His actions exemplify what it means to protect and serve the members of our community. When faced with a difficult situation in which a family was trying to provide a meal for their kids, he made the generous decision to not press charges and instead ensured that they would have a Christmas dinner they could enjoy.”
“I just did what I felt was right,” Lima told WJAR of his actions. “It’s not about me, I just tried to put myself in that family’s shoes and show a little bit of empathy.”
h/t: Somerset Police Department , WJAR
