NYPD officers’ act of kindness at Whole Foods leaves an accused shoplifter in tears

A trio of New York police officers gave a helping hand to a woman who was accused of shoplifting at a grocery store.

The woman was caught with food inside her bag Thursday, according to Paul Bozymowski, a filmmaker who was inside the Whole Foods, near Union Square. Store security stopped her but when the officers showed up, instead of arresting her, they paid for her food.

She then broke into tears.

Bozymowski snapped a photo of the compassionate act and shared it online.

“She was extremely emotional. She couldn’t speak,” Lt. Louis Sojo said to CBS2 New York. “She just looked at me and said thank you.”

The officers said they stopped at the store for a bite to eat. When they saw the containers of food in her bag, they said, they knew it was the right thing to do.

“Cops like Lt. Sojo and Officers Cuevas and Rivera of the Strategic Response Group are the kind-hearted cops who quietly do good deeds for New Yorkers in need,” NYPD Chief Terence Monohan said in a retweet of the initial post.

The initial post, as of press time, has garnered over 2,000 likes.

This story was originally published July 5, 2019 at 6:03 PM.