A police officer shocked staff at a Melbourne toy store with a touching gesture for an accused shoplifter.
On Christmas Eve last year, a man was caught on camera grabbing three wrestling figurines from the shelves at Greensborough’s Toyworld Central for his son.
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CCTV footage then shows the man walking straight out of the shop without paying.
“On the way out, he completely ignored our person on the door who was acting as security,” store manager Tomeeka Neil told 7NEWS.
The three staff members followed the man until he boarded a bus heading in the direction of Greensborough police station.
They then called the station to give officers a heads-up, and a short time later a police sergeant hailed down the bus and arrested the man on board.
The officer took the items off the accused thief to return to the store, but staff were shocked when he later came back to the shop, pulled out his wallet and paid $39 for one of the toys.
“He came back and actually purchased one of the items to give back to the thief to hand to his child for Christmas,” Neil said.
The police officer did not tell anyone about buying the toy and his colleagues were not even aware until they were contacted by 7NEWS.
Toyworld staff have said theft in their stores has risen in the last 12 months and have warned would-be thieves they are “very proactive” about it and will “take it on and stop you”.
