Ohio 7-eleven owner gives free food to hungry teen after he was caught shoplifting for his younger brother
A kind 7-Eleven owner in Ohio spared a hungry teen embarrassment and jail after he caught the latter shoplifting and decided that, instead of punishing him by calling authorities, he would instead give him some food.
According to Pix11, Jitendra Singh was working in the back office of his store in Upton and Berdan in Toledo when his clerk alerted him about a suspicious person pocketing items like gum and candy in the store.
After combing through the footage captured by the cameras and confirming that the teen had indeed been stealing, Singh confronted him as he was standing at the counter paying for a few of the items. Singh asked the teen to empty out his pockets, following which he removed one item. Knowing he had stolen more, Singh threatened to call the cops if the teen didn't comply and empty out his pockets entirely.
When he asked the teen why he had been stealing, he confessed it was because he and his younger brother were both hungry. Singh then directed his clerk, who was on the phone with 911 at the time, to cut the call and told the teen, "Well that’s not food. You’re stealing gum and candies. That’s just something for munching."
Singh, who had owned the store for five years, instead directed the teen to pick out items such as pizza, chicken wings, taquitos, nachos, and sandwiches, all of which he felt made for better food. He insisted that the teen take them, free of charge.
"When he said, 'I'm hungry and that’s why I’m stealing,' I said OK, he has some genuine problem. He’s not a thief who’s going and stealing stuff and selling it," the store owner explained. "At least (he) won’t go to jail. Once you go to jail, you’ll have a criminal record later in life. You’re not going to be able to get any good job or anything."
Cedric Bishop, a regular customer at the store, witnessed the entire incident and shared it on Facebook in a post. The post quickly went viral, getting close to 5,000 likes and 2,000 shares, with several commending Singh for his actions. "He has a big heart," Bishop told ABC13. "He has a great, big heart. I thought that was just beautiful because the young man could have had a record."
Singh's wife of 30 years, Neera, was similarly all-praise. "I'm really proud of him and it is the true self of himself," she said. "I know him, he's very kind. We are part of the community, and we have to help the community. It is a part of our job."
Singh, on the other hand, has been very modest about all the newfound attention. "Customers are now coming back and saying, ‘You’re a good guy and you did a good thing'," he revealed. "For me, it was not a big deal… I did what any normal human being would’ve done in that situation."