Cop who caught homeless mom stealing buys her diapers

This police officer responded to the scene — with his heart.

Roeland Park, Kan., cop Mark Engravalle found Sarah Robinson and her six kids in deplorable shape after staff at a Walmart apparently caught the homeless Kansas City-area widow shoplifting for her children Monday, The Kansas City Star reported.

So the officer bought her diapers, wipes and shoes out of his own wallet.
Engravalle did write Robinson a ticket for stealing $300 worth of items. But, on Friday, local radio station KMBZ gave the Roeland Park Police Department $6,000 that concerned listeners donated for the mom with 2-year-old twin daughters and four others aged 4,12, 13 and 15, according to KSHB-TV.



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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.
Thefts at the Walmart at 51st St. and Roe Blvd. usually relate to jewelry or electronics, Engravalle told the Star. But, this time, the offending shopper had apparently tried to lift items to clothe her youngest daughters, who were barefoot and dirty and wailing at the thought of their mother being taken away.

“What she did was wrong, but I think her heart was in the right place with wanting to take care of her children,” Engravalle, who is a father himself, told KSHB.

Robinson, who had found herself living in a car years after her husband drowned, expressed her gratitude in a tearful interview with the local TV station.

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Sarah Robinson told the local TV station "it's just really hard right now" when asked why she had tried to steal diapers, wipes and shoes from a Walmart in the Roeland Park section of Kansas City.
“He did something that will never be forgotten,” Robinson said. “He helped us when nobody else will.”

The department is forwarding donations to the Sarah J. Robinson Donation Account, Mission Bank, 5115 Roe Blvd., Roeland Park, KS 66205. Robinson’s case will go before the Roeland Park Municipal Court, but she wasn’t arrested, the Prairie Village Post reported.

“Though a citation was issued for theft, the compassion that this officer showed was incredible to say the least,” Roeland Park Police Chief John Morris said. “We try to make a difference here in Roeland Park, and this proves to be one of those moments.”

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Robinson, shown with two of her six daughters, has received more than $6,000 in donations after the story of Engravalle helping her at Walmart has come to light, according to reports.