Manchester, N.H. Police Officer Arrests, Buys Lunch for Homeless Woman
A Manchester, New Hampshire police officer is getting some thumbs up from residents and fellow officers after purchasing food for a homeless woman she arrested Friday morning.
Officers Lisa Mackey and Kevin Gelinas responded to a report of a stolen purse and located a car matching the suspect vehicle’s description in a parking lot at a South Willow Street McDonald’s, according to Manchester Police.
Police said Christopher Greene, 22, no fixed address, was in the driver’s seat of the car with a needle on the passenger seat and was arrested on a charge of heroin possession. Authorities said Greene told the officers that his girlfriend, Holly Solans, 20, was inside the fast-food restaurant.
Solans told Officer Mackey that she and Greene were homeless, desperate, and hungry, according to police. Mackey arrested Solans on a charge of receiving stolen property after another officer recovered the purse from the car — but not before empathizing with her situation.
“Even though Solans had broken the law by allegedly stealing a purse, Officer Mackey did what many on the outside feel is unexpected: She purchased food for the subject, allowed her to eat, and then took her into custody for receiving stolen property,’’ Sgt. Brian O’Keefe wrote in a release.
A witness saw the act and reported it to the department. Mackey is “far too humble to speak about the incident’’ to the press, O’Keefe said.
“She is quite embarrassed about [the attention],’’ he said.
Mackey has been on the department for 12 years but first started as an officer in Goffstown in 1994. She’s scheduled to retire next month.
Both Solans and Greene were released on $2,000 and $1,000 bail, respectively.
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