Regardless of the reasons behind their actions, there are plenty of teens who often get away with shoplifting. But one young man in Toledo, Ohio wasn't so lucky. He was caught red-handed at his local 7-Eleven, attempting to walk away with munchies in his pocket.
Surveillance video given to ABC-affiliate WTVG shows store owner Jitendra Singh asking the young man, "Do you want me to call the cops or will you take it out?" A store clerk alerted Singh of a suspicious customer and immediately called 911. But when the teen finally responded to the confrontation, Singh told his clerk to hang up the phone.
"I'm stealing for myself. I'm hungry, and I'm doing it for my younger brother," the teen said. At that moment, Singh looked at what the teen had taken and said, "This is not food. You want food, I give you food." Singh then took it upon himself to heat up a pizza, sausage rolls, and chicken drumsticks for the teen. Along with a 2-liter bottle of soda, Singh sent the teen on his way with the food – free of charge.
Customer Cedric Bishop saw the entire exchange unfold and shared it on Facebook. The story of Singh's compassion quickly caught on. "It's not going to make any difference to me if I give him some food because we make a lot of food, we sell a lot of food," Singh told WTVG. It's not easy to fend for one's self, especially when you're a teen in need. Many hope that the goodwill this teen was given will show him that people care and lead him down a better path. "If he goes to jail then he's definitely not going to do anything good in life," Singh said.
