Police Officer Buys Birthday Cake Ingredients For Shoplifting Mother
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (CBS) -- A routine shoplifting investigation gave way to tenderness after a police officer learned what a woman had stolen--and why.
Employees at Portsmouth's Ocean State Job Lot saw a woman shoplifting on November 19, and called police. Officer Michael Kotsonis was able to track the woman down from surveillance.
But when Officer Kotsonis found out that the woman had taken little more than some Crisco and vanilla frosting--what she said were ingredients for a cake for her daughter's birthday--he knew what he had to do.
Kotsonis returned to the Job Lot and purchased all of the ingredients and returned them to the mother in need.
Assistant Store Manager Dan Rose said it wasn't something he expected from anybody.
But fellow officers say it's typical behavior for the 19-year veteran of the force.
"[It was] pretty typical of this particular officer and a lot of police officers," said Lt. Darrin Sargent. "They don't look for recognition for the good things that happen. I think it happens more often than we know."
Nobody involved condones the theft, something Kotsonis spoke to the woman about afterward.