Weymouth Police Officer Saves Toddler's Birthday
WEYMOUTH (CBS) - Shannah Shea watched her daughter Aubrey rocking with her new toy guitar Thursday morning. It's a gift the toddler got for her first birthday – a party that was nearly nixed.
"My knees literally buckled," Shea says with a nervous laugh.
The Weymouth mother of two can chuckle about it now.
But she wasn't during her trip to Stop and Shop last Friday to buy stuff for her daughter's weekend shindig.
When Shea got to the checkout line she discovered that her wallet been stolen – more than $300 swiped.
Police were summoned, and the responding officer didn't find her wallet – or catch the crook.
But what he did do – very quietly – was pay the store for everything in Shea's shopping cart.
The tab was roughly $75. The cop wanted his deed to stay a secret – but a store clerk spilled the beans.
"She was like 'he bought all of those groceries for you and he didn't want me to tell you,'" Shea says.
Indeed, Weymouth Police declined to name the officer – and neither would Shea – even as shoppers piled praise on him.
"I think it's wonderful someone would do something like that," says one woman.
"It shows they care about the community and want to help people," adds a man coming from the store.
"It's rare that people do that these days," says another woman.
Turns out, though, the officer has a reason that runs a bit deeper.
"He said he was expecting a baby in a few weeks – that he was going to be a Dad," says Shea. "A first time Dad, too."
And with that on his plate, the officer wasn't going to let little Aubrey's first birthday fall apart.
"I just lost it," says Shea. "I cried."
Saved by a cop she didn't know – and a local merchant who then made good on the rest of her loss.
"It reminds you that for every bad person there's a hundred good people," she says.
The party went on as planned – about the same time Shea's empty wallet was found discarded several block from the supermarket.
Shea is now figuring ways to return the kindness when the officer's baby arrives.