When Girl Scout cookie stand is robbed at gunpoint, California police open their wallets
After a 12-year-old girl selling Girl Scout cookies outside a grocery store in Union City, Calif., was robbed at gunpoint this week, police stepped in to help and bought all of the unsold boxes.
The girl and her mother were selling cookies in front of Safeway on Wednesday when a teenage boy approached them and asked about buying cookies, according to Sgt. Steve Mendez, a spokesman for the Union City Police Department.
The boy returned with a handgun and took cookie money from the girl’s mother, he said. After stealing the cash, the boy ran from the parking lot.
“The mother and daughter were not injured but understandably were visibly upset,” Mendez said in a statement.
The theft hit home for the investigating officers — some of whom have children involved in scouting.
So officers decided to donate their own money to cover the cost of the theft as well as purchase the remaining cookie boxes.
In all, the girl and her mother received $1,000 in donations.
Meanwhile, police said detectives are still looking for the teenage boy.
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