The women, who had two small children with them, were stopped as they left the store, police said.
Lima took one of the women aside so they could talk about what had happened without the children hearing. Store employees kept the kids busy so they didn’t know what was going on.
“The woman I spoke to explained that she was at work, but the mother of the children was not working and had other family problems and that she brought the Christmas dinner for the children,” Lima told WJAR.
He checked the receipt to see what the women were planning to buy and saw that they had just been fed.
“Clearly this family was in need and I can’t imagine having to make the decision to go to Stop & Shop and only pay for what I can afford – or go there and try to bring things along for Christmas dinner for the kids? ” Lima told WJAR.
He gave them notice not to violate but did not press charges, police said.
“They were very grateful, they were a little shocked. I’m sure a lot of people in the same situation would think there would be a different outcome, and maybe they would be arrested or go to court.”
Lima bought a $ 250 gift certificate for the women so that they could buy their groceries from another store.