Kansas teen gifted with work boots he was caught stealing

ROELAND PARK — Officers in suburban Kansas City have made a gift of the work boots that a teen was attempting to steal.

KMBC-TV reports that it started Thursday afternoon when police responded to a Walmart in Roeland Park, Kansas, where the teen was caught shoplifting.

Chief John Morris says the responding officers learned the teen was a displaced juvenile and wanted the boots so he could get work. Instead of punishment, the officers headed to the cash register.

After some words of encouragement to find a job, finish school and stay out of trouble, the teen was gifted the same pair of boots he had attempted to steal.

Morris says the teen had tears in his eyes after he was given the boots. He says the story “almost made me cry, too.”