Ohio 7-Eleven owner gives shoplifting teen food instead of calling police
FOX NEWS - A would-be 7-Eleven thief was caught before he stole anything, but he still got the items he was planning to take — thanks to the convenience store's owner.
The owner of the store said that he spotted the almost-shoplifter trying to take food from his business in Toledo, Ohio. He noticed the teen on surveillance cameras before confronting him.
But Jitendra "Jay" Singh, who's owned the store for roughly five years, said he was shocked by the person he met over the weekend.
"He said, 'I'm stealing for myself,'" Singh told WTVG. '"I'm hungry, and I'm doing it for my younger brother.'"
Singh decided not to involve law enforcement, he said. Instead, he chose to help the apparently hungry teenager.
"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 the news station. "If he goes to jail then he's definitely not going to do anything good in life."
Cedric Bishop, a customer at the 7-Eleven posted the story on Facebook on Sunday, where it gained traction. He wrote that while at the store, the teen was pocketing "munchies" — food Singh said "is not food" before proceeding to give him "real" food.
Singh gave the teen sausage, pizza and chicken, according to Bishop, who said he gave the teen $10 so he knows "someone cares."