7-Eleven owner gives shoplifter food — INQUIRER.net Stock Photo

A convenience store owner in Ohio, USA, decided not to call the cops when he caught a teenager shoplifting in his store.

Jitendra “Jay” Singh, an owner of a 7-Eleven store in Toledo, was alerted by his clerk of the suspicious-looking teen who was pocketing items at his store over the weekend, as per WTVG via 13abc on April 8. Singh apparently watched the teen on his security cameras before confronting him.

“Do you want me to call the cops or will you take it out?” Singh asked the teen.

Upon asking him why he was stealing, the teen’s answer made Singh change his mind about calling the authorities.

“He said, ‘I’m stealing for myself. I’m hungry and I’m doing it for my younger brother,’” said Singh in the report.

A witness, Cedric Bishop, took to social media and shared about the encounter. Bishop wrote that Singh made the teen empty his pockets, which had a lot of munchies. He estimated the teen was around 15 or 16 years old.

“The owner said, ‘This is not food. You want food, I give you food,’” recalled Bishop on April 8. “The cashier had the 911 operator on the phone. The owner told her to hang up.”

“He went and started putting chicken [drumsticks], sausage rolls, and a whole pizza and gave him a 2 liter. I thought that was an amazing thing the owner did…” he added. “Some young people just need to know that someone cares.”

Many have praised Singh for his act of kindness, but his wife Neera shared that lending a helping hand to the community is just a part of what they do.

“We are part of the community and we have to help the community,” she said in the report. “It is a part of our job.”

Singh has had his convenience store for almost five years now and shared he likes to help others whenever he can.

“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 said in the report. “If he goes to jail then he’s definitely not going to do anything good in life.” Cody Cepeda /ra

Anonymous policeman leaves $100 tip, kind note to pregnant waitress