A South Philly woman who stopped a porch pirate in her tracks didn’t call the police after witnessing the attempted theft. Instead, she went out of her way to turn the moment into an act of charity.
Home surveillance video obtained by WPVI shows a female thief in a blue hoodie attempting to steal a package off the doorstep of Bernadette Williams’ neighbor.
Williams is heard yelling at the culprit, prompting her to freeze and place the package down.
“What you doin’?! Put that back!” Williams shouts from across the street.
What came next was a heartwarming moment that touched many people in her community and across the internet.
“I’ll give you some money. Here’s $7, here’s $7,” Williams is heard telling the woman. “You’re better than that. Get some help. You’re better than that. I love you. God loves you.”
Williams said she didn’t want to make the situation worse.
“I said, ‘She’s in trouble. How can I make a bad situation better?’ You have to be a part of the solution,” she said.
She added that she could read the woman’s remorseful expression after being caught and wanted to offer her some words of encouragement.
“Her eyes of ‘I’m sorry.’ And that was in her heart and that’s what I read. And I hope that she will be fine. And I have faith that she will be fine,” Williams shared. “That’s when I believed she started realizing what she did, she started realizing I am somebody. She started realizing that there is somebody out here who cares. I hope that was the message that she received.”
Williams has lived in her neighborhood for decades and said she hopes her act of kindness can inspire her fellow Philadelphians.
“Let’s hope that all Philadelphians would say we are a part of our community and we can make our community better,” she said.
