A Kansas cop paid the tab instead of arresting Sarah Robinson for shoplifting. (Fox4KC)
A widowed, homeless mother of six who tried shoplifting $300 in diapers, shoes and baby wipes avoided jail after the Kansas police officer sent to arrest her instead paid for the items, Fox4KC reported.
“What she did was wrong and against the law, but her heart was in the right place with wanting to help to take care of her children,” Roeland Park Police Officer Mark Engravalle said.
“I’m not a bad mom, just bad actions”
Three of her children were barefoot with dirty feet when Sarah Robinson tried to shoplift shoes and other necessities from Walmart on July 6.
“It’s humiliating that I could be at a point where I would do something like that,” Robinson said.
“I’m not a bad mom, just bad actions.”
She made it as far as the parking lot before Engravalle showed up. But instead of arresting her, Engravalle, who has two kids of his own, paid for the provisions.
“Walmart might see her as a criminal, but I just saw her as a mom going through a really difficult time,” Engravalle told KSHB-TV.
Aside from receiving the supplies, Robinson also received a ticket for her attempted theft. But she shouldn’t have any issues paying the fine. More than $6,000 in donations for the desperate mom have been sent to the Roeland Park Police Department, according to KSHB.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
