Restaurant owner offers job to a burglar who broke into his business instead of pressing charges

Someone broke into Diablo’s Southwest Grill in Augusta, Georgia, earlier this month to steal money from the store's register. Any business owner would be ballistic at having to undergo such a loss and would have immediately got the police involved. But after the initial frustration, owner Carl Wallace responded in a surprisingly gracious manner. He took to the restaurant's Facebook page to send a message across to the burglar. In a heartwarming gesture, Wallace offered a job to the burglar at his restaurant. It was more than forgiveness and a way for the person who broke in to make amends and turn a new leaf.

In the post, he wrote: Our burritos are such a smash hit we’ve got people breaking in at 4 am for their fix. So if ya see our door looking hurricane fabulous at Wheeler Rd this is why. To the would-be robber who is clearly struggling with life decisions or having money issues... please swing by for a job application. There are better opportunities out there than this path you’ve chosen. He even left his personal number and assured the person that he would not involve the police. He added: Let’s sit down and talk about how we could help you and fix the road you’re on.

This immensely empathetic post has won the hearts of the restaurant's patrons and other people on social media alike. The post garnered over 4.6k likes and has been shared more than 5,000 times. One Facebook use wrote: Sometimes people make poor decisions but, no one was physically hurt. Based on the way you publicly responded to this incident, I'll be sure to visit Diablo's more often. Another user, Julie Lavigne commented, Kudos to Diablo's for the civility of this post!!! It could have been really ugly, but they chose kindness and humor! Bravo!

The suspect broke into the store by breaking the glass door and made for the register even as the alarm blared. The burglar had to leave empty-handed because there was nothing in the register. The whole thing was recorded on a security camera. A picture of the shattered glass and a still frame from the security camera footage was attached to the Facebook post as well. "It really kind of occurred to me (that it’s) … Easter weekend and to just extend an olive branch," Wallace told TODAY. "You know, extend the layer of forgiveness and kindness and give the … would-be robber some redemption and a different path."

He chose to look at it from the perpetrator's point of view and practice empathy instead. The same person was caught on camera breaking into other stores as well. The owners reached out to Wallace about the same, reported WJBF. "They’ve actually sent me pictures of their break-ins; it’s the same white hoodie, the same statue individual. I don’t think this is the one and done, so hopefully, this person decides to change career paths," he said. "Putting this person through incarceration to then get out to make it harder to find a good-paying job," Wallace said. "It only makes it worse. Sometimes … even I feel that our system in life is broken sometimes for some people … We've been doing the same thing for 200 years and it's not worked."

So far, the burglar has not reached out to them regarding their offer but Wallace was given an anonymous tip that could take the case forward. "Maybe everybody should offer some kindness and a way to help the fellow person versus continuing to harm what is already broken," he added. Wallace also told Bored Panda that he and his employees were "amazed at the outpouring of love and support shown back to us from our local customers and all the texts, DMs, and phone calls of gratitude."