Mother-of-six Sarah Robinson was stopped at the Roeland Park store after she was caught stealing nappies, clothing and shoes for her children, aged 2 to 15.
Advertisement
KSHB 41 Kansas City Roeland Park police officer Mark Engravalle said seeing the homeless mom caught trying to clothe her children “pulled at my heart” in an interview with KSHB-TV.
“What she did was wrong, but I think her heart was in the right place – wanting to take care of her children”, Engravalle said.
Engravalle, who had noticed that some of the children were barefoot and had dirty feet, went back inside the store and quietly purchased the stolen merchandise for the family, who were gathered in the parking lot crying at the time, according to the paper.
Engravalle is a father of two young children, ages 2 and 6, and explained to the local Prairie Village Post that the state of the family – broke, living out of a auto, and without shoes for the five youngest kids – tugged on his heartstrings.
“I thought about my children”. You know, she thought she was going to jail.
‘I could take the easy way out and send them to live with my mom, but I’m not going to do that, ‘ she said. Robinson thought she was going to be thrown in jail and be separated from her girls, but what the officer did wasn’t what she expected.
Why did Engravalle decide to help the family? She said no. He asked her if the girls had shoes.
Since the incident, there has been an outpouring of support from the community for Robinson and her daughters.
“We got everything else taken from us and it’s just hard right now”, Robinson said.
Robinson said her husband had died in an accidental drowning in 2011, and the family had been struggling to get by ever since. When she was caught shoplifting, she didn’t expect the officer to do what he did. She also feared she would lose her daughters. He asked Robinson’s oldest daughter to grab some shoes so that he could pay for them, and also the diapers and wipes.
As a police officer, he was required to write Robinson a citation for shoplifting.
Robinson’s ticket is now pending in the Roeland Park Municipal Court. Then they will need to find a place to live. Robinson Donation Account, Mission Bank, 5115 Roe Blvd., Roeland Park, KS 66205.
Advertisement
Demoss said the police department has been inundated with calls and people visiting the station asking how they can help.
