Cop Catches Little Girl Stealing $2 Shoes, Then His Heart Drops When She Tells Him Why

“The world is a place full of injustice and sad stories. This is how it is, and we can do nothing to change it. However, there are still brave people capable of fighting to try to reverse things and ensure that at least one less person suffers in the world. The protagonist of our story is one of those kinds of people, whose generosity and dedication to others will surpass all expectations.

Jay Milton had always dreamed of becoming a police officer. His grandfather was a sergeant, and his father a captain, so it was no wonder that Jay wanted to be like them and serve his country with the same devotion his family did. Such was his desire that at just six years old, the only thing he wrote in his wish letter on his birthday was just that:

‘Dear God, my name is Che Middleton, and although my parents and I live in a small house on the outskirts of Atlanta, I’d like you to remember me and help me in my dream of becoming a policeman and protecting the streets of my city. I know it won’t be easy for you, and you have a lot of work to do, but I’d greatly appreciate it. Thank you. Jenny.’

However, the only thing she could do at that moment was to keep dreaming about and start feeling like a policeman. Nevertheless, he still received a wonderful surprise from his parents, a beautiful toy police car that perfectly simulated the patrol cars he saw every day around Atlanta. For Che, that was more than enough. In fact, today he still keeps that first toy police car as if it were a real treasure.

Throughout his childhood and adolescence, he worked hard to be prepared, and when the time came to be able to pass the entrance exams to the academy, which were increasingly demanding and required a high level of physical and academic preparation on the part of applicants, his parents, Clark and Olivia Milton, supported him from the beginning and knew that sooner or later their little boy’s efforts would be rewarded. And so they were. Jay’s dream came true at 21 when, after a failed first attempt, he managed to enter the Atlanta police academy and begin his training.

Unfortunately, before finishing training and receiving his badge, Jay had to face a hard blow, the death of his father due to a sudden heart attack. The pain of his father’s death was enormous, but instead of paralyzing him and putting his life on pause because of the grief, Jay felt he had to try harder than ever to be a good cop and honor his father’s memory. He had to accept the most painful truth in order to move on with his life: his dream had come true, he was an Atlanta cop, but his father would never get to see him. It was hard, but that was the reality now, and he had to accept it as soon as possible.

‘I’ll make Dad proud of me, Mom, wherever he is. I want him to see me fulfilling the dream we fought so hard for together, to make Atlanta and my country a better place. I know he’ll be smiling down on me from Heaven. That’s all I need,’ Che told his mother on his first day of work while they were having breakfast. He was very excited, and his mother gave him a big hug before he walked out the door.

‘I’m sure he’s already smiling, my love. You don’t know how proud I am to see you with that uniform on, and he is too. God bless you, sweetheart. Take care of yourself and come back safe and sound,’ his mother said, giving him a kiss on the cheek and wiping away her tears.

Che spent his first days as a police officer with no major incidents, no major cases to attend to, no danger to neutralize. But he didn’t care. For him, being a cop was more than taking credit for the most difficult cases or chasing bad guys at full speed in his patrol car.

Jay didn’t feel the need to stand down; on the contrary, for him, the key to being a good cop was to be able to arrive on time when someone needed them and act the way they were expected to: to serve and protect. That was his family’s motto and the motto for which he enlisted in the academy, and that’s precisely what he did and what led this young man to become the center of attention.

Just awakened to his new job during a cold January morning while on his beat, Atlanta police officer Jay Milton received a call alerting him that a robbery was being committed at a nearby store.

‘Come quick, officers! There’s a shoplifter who refuses to give me back what she stole,’ the store owner said to them, very irritated.

Hearing the warning, Che rushed to the scene to catch the thief and bring order. However, when he arrived at the store, what he found was not what he expected.

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It turned out that the thief referred to by the store owner was not a shoplifter but a girl as young as 12 years old who was crying inconsolably, clutching a little pair of shoes.

Realizing what was happening, Jay decided to intercede for the girl and reassure the store owner.

Seeing the girl clutching her shoes like that, the young cop forgot about the rules and could only feel sorry for her and the need to protect her. After all, being a cop was also about learning to care for others, and it was clear that this girl was in serious trouble, and the last thing she needed was a cop stopping her.

‘How much are the shoes you want to take?’ Milton asked the owner, putting himself between her and the girl.

‘It’s two dollars, officer, but I assure you she’s not gonna pay me for them. Aren’t you gonna do something about it?’ said the store owner, getting angrier and angrier.

‘Here you go, sorry for the inconvenience. I assure you it won’t happen again. Have a nice day,’ Jay paid the two dollars for the shoes and took the girl away.

They walked in silence to a nearby bench, and Che motioned for her to sit down next to him. The girl had stopped crying and was looking at Milton with a look on her face as if she didn’t understand anything that was happening.

‘Why did you help me? I’m supposed to have committed a crime. You should take me under arrest,’ said the girl in a low voice and without looking Che in the eyes.

‘One thing is the law, and another is how we interpret it. My job is to find a balance between the two, to try to do justice in all cases. Sometimes it works out well, sometimes not so well. I think today you needed someone to help you and listen to you, not a cop to take you in and arrest you. Tell me, what’s your name, and why did you want to steal those shoes?’ Milton explained in a close tone while smiling at her. He wanted to make her feel safe, and he was succeeding.

The girl’s name was Thea; she was 12 years old and had tried to steal a pair of two-dollar shoes to give to her five-year-old sister. Her family of seven couldn’t afford to buy new shoes for the children, and she wanted to surprise her sister with a new pair. As she explained this to him, Thea burst into tears again.

She was the oldest of five siblings, and the burden of caring for them all fell on her. Her parents couldn’t afford all the household expenses, and Thea tried to help her mother as much as she could, taking care of her siblings and doing household chores. But it was always not enough. The girl was too young to bear such a heavy emotional burden, and Che felt very sad to hear her story.

‘So, what’s my punishment gonna be, officer? You’re gonna tell my parents, because I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t. They already have enough problems. I don’t want to add another,’ said Thea with a trembling voice. He could tell she was very scared and in a lot of pain.

‘Calm down, Thea. I’m not gonna punish you, not me or anyone else. Let me help you, okay? Tell me where you live, and then we’ll see what we can do to help your family,’ Milton answered her gently, stroking her back to make her relax.

‘Okay, I’ll show you the way. Thank you, officer,’ the girl replied, calming down and smiling for the first time.

Jay drove slowly, following the girl’s directions, and they arrived home in just 15 minutes. Thea’s house was located in a low-income, sometimes even dangerous neighborhood, but the inside was not much better than the outside. Sheets were strewn on the floor because the family didn’t have enough beds for all the children, and a sofa was the only visible piece of furniture in the whole thing. In the kitchen, there was hardly any food left in the cupboards, and Jay could also see that the walls were filthy, and he could swear that the house had a serious moisture and mold problem that needed to be fixed as soon as possible.

The girl’s mother, Mrs. Staples, told Shay her whole story. She told him that her husband, Oliver Staples, traveled a lot for work but still didn’t make much money. The family couldn’t afford daycare, so Mrs. Staples had to stay home with the children and couldn’t get a job. Sophia was always helping her as much as she could.

After seeing the house in such disarray and hearing their sad story, Milton wanted to help the family. First, he ordered four large pizzas to share with the family since it was obvious they had all gone days without a proper meal. Then he took it upon himself to call the Georgia Division of Family and Children’s Services to put the Staples in touch with a social worker.

But Milton didn’t stop there. He kept coming back to the house with clothes and items for the baby over the next few days. She went all out with the family and made sure they received help by all means, something no other police officer had ever done before, let alone for people he didn’t know at all.

‘Without a doubt, Agent Milton has been a blessing to our family. It is as if a prayer has been heard through him,’ Mrs. Staples told CNN.

A week later, the Atlanta PD wanted to honor Che’s great work and shared his story in a post on a police Facebook account. Although the post did not ask for donations, many users flocked to the comments asking how they could help Thea’s family and praising the young cop’s work.

The success of this first post and the number of messages offering help led the department to publish another post a few days later, this time specifying how donations could be made to the family. The post included clothing sizes for their children and a mother asked for diapers, wipes, blankets, and furniture donations and offered to pick up donations at the police station.

‘The way Officer Milton handled this incident showed that he is not only here to enforce the law but also to go the extra mile and be a part of the community he watches over,’ Atlanta Police Department told CNN.

Everyone was very impressed by the work of the young officer who quickly ceased to be considered a rookie in the police department, earning the respect of all the members of the police force with his magnificent work with the people of Atlanta and its most needy citizens.

Thanks to Milton’s compassion and kindness, the Staple family received a large amount of necessities. Milton could have simply reprimanded the young woman and left it at that. Instead, he took the time to learn her story. His empathy and patience helped the thief more than a punishment could and remind us not to jump to conclusions about others but to give them the benefit of the doubt because they may surprise you and give you the opportunity to lend them a hand.

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