By Kylie Madry
The Dallas Morning News
KAUFMAN, Texas — A Kaufman police officer was taken off the job this week after he refused to arrest a hungry shoplifting suspect, according to a press release by the department.
Sgt. Nick Stevens was dispatched to a Wal-Mart around noon Wednesday after a theft was called in.
When he arrived, the release says, Stevens met with the suspect who told him that he had stolen food and a drink because he was hungry and hadn’t eaten in two days.
Stevens let the man off with a warning and gave him some cash.
The Wal-Mart insisted on pressing charges, though Stevens felt it wasn’t necessary. However, when the victim of a crime wants to press charges, police are obligated to do so.
Stevens’ daughter, Kelsey Stevens, took to Facebook Wednesday, saying her father was taken off duty because he wouldn’t arrest the shoplifting suspect.
The Kaufman police have said Kelsey Stevens’ accusations are false.
According to the release, the department opened up an internal investigation into Stevens after an incident took place at the station while discussing the issue.
Kaufman police would not elaborate on the “incident.”
The department says that the investigation is unrelated to “the compassion and kindness” that Stevens showed the suspect, but that it “applauds” those actions.
“The actions being taken by this department do not involve punishing anyone for the failure to arrest the suspect,” the department’s Facebook post read.
“We appreciate the support from our community and we hope that the example of kindness, shown by our officer does the same,” the release said.
©2017 The Dallas Morning News