7-Eleven owner shows shoplifter compassion after finding out why he's stealing


When the owner of a 7-Eleven in Toledo, Ohio, learned that a young shoplifter was stealing in order to feed his family, he did something unexpected.
Jay Singh noticed the teenager was acting suspiciously, and told an employee to call the police. Singh confronted the teen, and asked him why he was stealing. "He said, 'I'm hungry. I'm stealing it for myself and my younger brother,'" Singh told CBS News. "I said, 'You need food? I'll give you food. That's not a problem.'"
Singh filled up a bag for the teenager, and told officers when they arrived that everything was fine. "He's a young kid," Singh said. "That will go on his record that he was a thief. He cannot do anything in his life. He will not get a good job. This will not solve his hunger problem." Singh said in Indian culture, it's important to feed a person when they are hungry, and he felt it was his duty to help.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
College grads are seeking their first jobs. Is AI in the way?
In The Spotlight Unemployment is rising for young professionals
-
Hundreds die in Air India crash with 1 survivor
Speed Read The London-bound Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed soon after takeoff
-
Trump's LA deployment in limbo after court rulings
Speed Read Judge Breyer ruled that Trump's National Guard deployment to Los Angeles was an 'illegal' overreach. But a federal appellate court halted the ruling.
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billion
Speed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on record
Speed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homes
Speed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creature
Speed Read