An Alabama police officer says he just wants to encourage those in his community to feed the hungry after media caught wind of his act of generosity toward a woman who was caught stealing eggs to feed her grandchildren.
Tarrant officer William Stacy was called to a Dollar General store on December 6th after 47-year-old Helen Johnson was discovered with eggs on her pocket. Johnson said she had gone into the store with $1.25 to buy eggs and found the eggs were $1.75.
She placed three eggs in her pocket and was caught by store personnel.
The officer discovered that Johnson’s two grandchildren, ages 3 and 1, had not eaten since two days earlier.
Officer Stacy said that unlike many other times when he’s called to the scene of a shoplifting crime, this seemed like the case of a woman who was desperate to help her grandchildren.
“She started crying,” Stacy told reporters. “She said, ‘I need help. I need help, Officer Stacy, I need to put food in my babies’ stomachs.’ That’s what got me. That’s what hit me the hardest. I told her [to] park on the side of the parking lot. I ran in, bought the carton of eggs, came back outside, handed them to her and she got very emotional, very apologetic.”
A customer in the store caught the incident on camera and uploaded it to the web. In that time, the family has received SUV loads of food from a local food bank and other officers in the area.
“I don’t see myself as a hero,” Stacy stated. “I’m not a big fan of cameras and the spotlight. I just want to do my job, do it the right way, and spend time with friends and family.”
