Photo Credit: YouTube Screenshot
A woman was caught over the holidays by security when she stuffed her container of hot buffet from Whole Foods in her bag. Three NYPD officers offered to pay for her goods, instead of taken her to jail.
According to reports, NYPD Lieutenant Louis Sojo, Officer Michael Rivera and Officer Esnidy Cuevas were all on duty when they noticed the woman was stopped by security. When they looked into what was going on, they discovered the woman “had stuffed a container filled with hot buffet items into her bag, saying that she was hungry but had no money. In an act of holiday kindness, Sojo and the two cops walked the woman to the cash register where all three chipped in a total of about $30 for the eats.”
Sojo says, “At first, I didn’t think it was a big deal, [but] she was extremely emotional. She was shocked we did something like that.”
Word quickly got around following the NYPDs’ kind gestures and a Manhattan resident by the name of Paul Bozymowski took to Twitter to praise the officers.
“As I was walking in…it was obvious something was happening. The security guard had actually called [the officers] over as she was opening her bag. Then, almost without hesitation, one of them said, ‘C’mon, I’ll buy your food. She seemed confused at first, like she didn’t know what was going to happen. But when she realized they were buying her the food, she cried as if she was overwhelmed with gratitude,“added Bozymowski, who also tweeted a picture of the moment. “I was genuinely moved by the act of generosity and [I thought] I should document this.”
This woman was being held by security.
She had food in her bag she didn’t pay for.
When the NYPD showed up, they paid for her food.Happy 4th…! #July4th #FourthOfJuly #NYPD pic.twitter.com/zWHV1Fn1Wg
— paul bozymowski (@pboz) July 4, 2019