A woman in Tarrant, Alabama, was caught shoplifting eggs on Saturday. What happened as a result is heartwarming, to say the least.
Employees at a Dollar General caught the woman in the act of stealing a dozen eggs, and called the police. At that time, Officer William Stacy was on duty and was called to the scene, as reported by the Alabama .
When Officer Stacy arrived at the Dollar General, he recognized the woman being held.
“When I got there, I made contact with the lady that was suspected of stealing.”
Stacy told WIAT that he had responded once to a call at her house, and he remembered the difficult living conditions in which she and her children faced every single day. His heart went out to her when he realized who she was.
“It was just a small glimpse into her life,” said Stacy to WIAT . “It was enough to make an impression on me.”
The woman explained that her children were in the car, and that she was only stealing the eggs to feed her family. Officer Stacy understood she had several children on a limited income and the struggles she faced. He said no child should go hungry.
It was at then that what could have been a moment of handcuffs, a permanent criminal record, and fines took a completely different direction.
Officer Stacy spoke with the staff at Dollar General, who decided not to press charges. Then Officer Stacy paid for the eggs and gave them to the woman who so desperately needed them.
“She tried to give me all the money she had,” he said, as reported by WIAT . “It was about $1.25. I told her the best way to pay me back was to never do something like that again.”
Officer Stacy said he is just one of hundreds of thousands of police officers that do this kind of thing on a daily basis.
The woman was so grateful for what Stacy had done that she asked if she could give him a hug as she thanked him over and over.
At the time, Officer Stacy did not know another customer was video recording the entire incident with her cell phone. The manager of the Dollar General made him aware, but Stacy didn’t mind. In fact, he told WIAT he was glad. He wants the public to know that police officers are good guys who do good things everyday. What he did was just one small example.
“After all the stuff that’s been going on all over the U.S. with law enforcement officers, this is a positive uplifting story. I’m just one out of hundreds of thousands that do this on a daily basis.”
The owner of the video actually posted it on Facebook, and it wasn’t long before it took on a life of its own. Within a matter of hours, the video had over 300,000 views, as per the Alabama .
It wasn’t long until Officer Stacy learned that no good deed goes unnoticed. He tells WIAT that he was bombarded with people contacting him over what he had done, as he laughs.
“My phone was blowing up with notifications and texts.”
We should all follow in Officer Stacy’s lead by making a difference in someone’s life and in this world.
[Photo Credit: Daily Mail ]