Police Officer Shows Grace To Grandmother Caught Stealing Eggs

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.”