Summary After learning the woman's identity, Kotsonis went to her home to recover the items.
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire police officer who responded to a shoplifting incident didn t make an arrest but instead paid the thief s tab after learning the woman stole the items to bake her child s birthday cake.
Officer Michael Kotsonis, a 19-year member of the Portsmouth force, responded to a call last week at the Ocean State Job Lots after a woman had stolen cake mix, shortening and "a couple things of frosting," the Portsmouth Herald reported (http://bit.ly/1NGYDlB).
After learning the woman s identity, Kotsonis went to her home to recover the items. It was there that he found that the woman was a mother who wanted to bake her child a birthday cake.
Kotsonis says the mother s actions weren t right, but, "I m not going to take away a kid s birthday cake." He went back to the store and bought the items. The woman wasn t charged.
A store employee reported his gesture to the newspaper. Frank Warchol, acting deputy police chief, said he wouldn t have known about it either if not for a reporter s call. He said Kotsonis exemplifies the department s mission emphasizing community, commitment and compassion.
"I didn t do it for the attention," Kotsonis said Tuesday. "What you do when no one is looking, that s the character of someone."
