Usually being caught for theft results in very serious repercussions. Fortunately for one New York woman, city police did something unexpected.
New York Police Department's Lt. Louis Sojo and Officers Esnaidy Cuevas and Michael Rivera were preparing for Fourth of July craziness with snacks from a Manhattan Whole Foods. Instead, they ended up buying a bunch of groceries for a woman the supermarket security guard said was stealing.
Sojo explained during a press conference on Friday (July 5), "I asked her, 'What's going on?' She told me she was hungry. So, I looked in her bag. I decided -- we decided -- to say 'We'll pay for her food.'"
The officers banning together had everyone at the store speechless. However, social media wasn't short of words. Film and TV director Paul Bozymowkski was there when the act of kindness took place and had his social feeds buzzing with a picture of the woman crying at the register alongside NYPD uniformed officers.
What was more surprising than the purchase was all the attention the photo generated; mainly for the law enforcers.
"You know, I've been doing this for 22 years. This is not the first time I've paid for food. This is not the first time they've paid for someone's food. We don't go out and do it all the time, but, you know, when you look at someone's face and you notice that they need you, and they're actually hungry. It's pretty difficult as a human being to walk away from something like that. We weren't raised like that. So, it's the right thing to do."
Chief of Department Terence A. Monahan went on to praise his men for representing NYPD so well.
Photo: Paul Bozymowkski & Terence A. Monahan Twitter