Carting Her Off To Justice

(I am shopping at a popular grocery and am in the long line to check out. I notice a cart nearby with a kid. It starts rolling into a shelf. I grab it before any damage is done.)

Me: “Hey, whose cart is this with the kid?”

(I see a woman at the meat department with a phone, talking away. I believe she has a purse that matches the coat on the cart.)

Me: “Ma’am your kid almost rolled into—”

(She waves me off and continues talking on the phone. I sigh, reposition the cart, then get back into the line.)

Customer In Front: “Stupid woman, leaving her kid to roll off to God knows where.”

Me: “I hope the phone call is worth the—”

(I notice the cart rolling again, so I stop it. This time, the woman notices.)

Woman: “What are you doing to my kid you… you… kidnapper!?”

Me: “I was stopping the cart.”

Woman: *snatches the cart from me* “Stay away from my baby.”

Customer In Front: *laughs* “Well, least she paying attention now.”

(The woman continues glaring at me. A few minutes pass, and the customer in front is done being checked out. However, I’m surprised when the woman and two cops approach me.)

Woman: *points to me* “There he is, the kidnapper!”

Officer #1: *to me* “Alright bub, let’s go.”

Officer #2: *getting cuffs out* “I got him.”

Customer In Front: “Woah, officers! Stop! You haven’t even heard his story!”

Woman: “He tried to kidnap my baby! That’s the story!”

(The two officers talk to people in the line about what happened, and are eventually convinced about my side of the story.)

Officer #1: “Ma’am, please put your hands on the counter.”

Woman: “What! What for? I’m not a kidnapper! I refuse!”

Officer #2: “Please work with us, not against us.”

Woman: “Arrest that man for kidnapping!”

Officer #2: “Ma’am, you are under arrest for abandoning a minor, and for endangering a minor. We will contact your husband or a relative at the station to get your child.”

Woman: “I’m innocent! He was kidnapping!” *she screams all the way out*