Officers Keith Bradshaw and Candace Spragins arrived and discovered a woman who had taken $36 in goods.
She was sincerely regretful, apologizing for her behavior and revealing that she is an adopted mother of three.
They could understand from her account that the cause of this crime was a stressful episode that resulted in her losing her capacity to work and, as a result, being unable to provide food for her children for the past several days.
As the officers checked her refrigerator, they found only one slice of cheese.
The two cops surprised the woman’s mother by doing something unusual: instead of formally charging her daughter with stealing, they returned to the store.
They loaded a trolley with an excess of groceries. This quantity would last the family for several weeks of meals and nutrition.
