Michigan Cops Buy Shoes for Kids After Parents are Caught Shoplifting

Three officers from the Mason County Sheriff's Office got called to a Wal-Mart on October 6 to deal with shoplifters. What happened next was not something that they expected.

Sgt. Adam Lamb and his crew of deputies John Balowski and Kyle Boyd, were called to the store after a couple was caught stealing hunting supplies and kids' shoes.The couple had their two young children along with them.

One deputy interviewed the husband while another talked to the wife, and through speaking to the couple, the deputies learned that they were having struggling financially and that was why they were stealing the items. The husband had hoped to get a deer with the hunting supplies, and they needed to put shoes on their kids' feet. (Sgt. Lamb told the Mason County Press that the children looked to be around the ages of 2 and 4.)

The children weren't wearing shoes, and when asked if they had any, the mother produced two pairs of very worn children's shoes.

The children were crying, one of them begging them not to arrest their daddy, which put the officers in a bit of a predicament - you don't want to arrest a man in front of his small children when all he was trying to do was provide for them.

They eventually charged the father with retail fraud third degree, which is a misdemeanor.

The three officers then talked about what had happened and decided to pool their money and purchase shoes for the children.

They didn't tell anyone they were doing it. They simply brought the shoes to the mother, who Sgt. Lamb said was grateful for the gift.

They thought that would be the end of it until someone told the sheriff about what had happened.

Sheriff Kim Cole told the Mason County Press:

Adam, Kyle and John are examples of deputies we expect to serve the citizens of Mason County. I hear these stories all the time, not from my deputies but from the public. These men didn't do anything for any glory and didn't even think it necessary to tell me about what they did. They love serving and ask nothing in return. They are similar to officers in uniform who daily protect and serve their citizens across the country.

Why did the men do it? Deputy Balowksi explained:

We all have children whose ages are close proximity to the kids from this incident. It's very likely that our children will go to school with these kids and that we, as parents, will be at school functions and other activities with these parents. I think it's in our best interest as law enforcement to set an example for our children and for adults. Sure, we have to enforce the law and there has to be consequences for stealing. But, people fall under hard times and we are all neighbors here.