A shoplifting complaint in London, KY, that could have ended in an arrest resulted in an act of kindness instead. That's all thanks to police officer Justin Roby, who chose to put the law aside to lend a helping hand to someone who seemed to really need one.

He arrived at the Kroger grocery store to find a father, facing hard times, stealing a pack of baby formula for his son. Roby, who himself is a father of a little boy, knew what he had to do next.

"Me citing him for court wouldn't have done any good for him," he told WKYT, adding that, "he's already short on money, can't afford formula, so me making him appear in court, he's still not going to have any food for that baby."

RELATED: Elderly Man Sells Wedding Ring to Afford Groceries; He Gets It Back In An Amazing Way

After refusing to press charges on the man, Roby went one step further to help him, paying for the formula himself.

"I think when they look at us they see just the uniform and just the car, just the tools that we have on our belt. But behind the uniform I'm a human being and I'm a person out here in this community just like any of them."

RELATED: This Police Officer Found A Live Baby In The Rubble After A Hospital Exploded

Roby told WKYT that what he did was nothing special, and that his fellow officers make gestures like this all the time—it just often goes unnoticed.

[Via WKYT

Alyssa Fiorentino Senior Editor of Content Strategy Alyssa is the senior editor of content strategy at House Beautiful who covers home decor, design trends, and news.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io