A Massachusetts police officer responded to a shoplifting call but instead of arresting the suspects he bought their groceries for Christmas, police say

• A police officer in Massachusetts bought groceries for a family that had been reported for shoplifting instead of arresting them.
• The officer found out when responding to the incident involving two women and two children, that the women had "fell upon hard times" were attempting to buy food for the children for a Christmas dinner, according to Somerset Police.
• "I just did what I felt was right. It's not about me, I just tried to put myself in that family's shoes and show a little bit of empathy," the officer told WJAR.

When a police officer in Massachusetts responded to a shoplifting call, he bought the family groceries instead of "pressing criminal charges" against them.

On December 20, days ahead of the Christmas holiday, Officer Matt Lima of the Somerset Police Department arrived at a grocery store to respond to a suspected shoplifting case where two women with young children reportedly did not scan all their food items at the kiosks, Somerset Police Department said ina statement.

"It was a little bit different from the get-go though because not too many people engage in that type of behavior with their young children there," the officer told WCVB.

After learning that the women had "fell upon hard times" and attempted to provide a "Christmas dinner for the two young children" with the food, he decided to give the women "Notice Not To Trespass forms" instead of "pressing criminal charges" for the groceries, according to the statement. He then personally bought the women gift cards equating to $250 so that the women could find the food, according to police.

"The two children with the women reminded me of my kids, so I had to help them out," the officer said, according to the police statement.

"I just did what I felt was right. It's not about me, I just tried to put myself in that family's shoes and show a little bit of empathy," the officer told WJAR.

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