Police officers reveal why they stopped to buy a homeless man groceries on a freezing night

Selfless cops reveal the sad sight that triggered them to buy a warm meal for a homeless man begging outside a Melbourne Woolworths on a 3C night

  • Police officers filmed buying homeless man groceries outside Melbourne store 
  • They bought him a roast chicken, rolls and made sure he had a place to sleep
  • Constables Sheridan Jones and Simon Jacobson said they were happy to help
  • The pair said homeless man was very polite and had initially declined their offer

A pair of police officers bought a warm meal for a homeless man after finding him begging outside a Woolworths store in near-freezing conditions with only a bottle of chocolate milk to drink.

Constables Sheridan Jones and Simon Jacobson had been called to the store in Ashwood, Melbourne on Sunday night to speak to the man who’d been sitting outside in temperatures as low as 3C.

The officers didn’t move along the man but instead asked him what he was doing out in the cold before learning he hadn’t eaten since the night before. 

Then in a heartwarming act of kindness the pair walked into the supermarket and came back with a bag full of groceries – ensuring the man wouldn’t go hungry for a second night.

Speaking to Sunrise, Constable Jones said they had asked what the man wanted to eat but surprisingly he told them not to worry about buying him anything.

‘I said, ”Well you’ve got two choices, you can come in with me or we’ll surprise you”,’ she said.

Minutes later the officers came back outside with a full bag of food including a barbecue chicken, bread rolls, milk, bananas, chocolate and packet pasta.

Unknown to the police officers, Melbourne-based blogger Adele Barbaro captured the whole encounter on video.

Constable Jones said the homeless man was ‘so sweet’ and only had a bottle of chocolate milk with him that a lady had earlier bought. 

‘He’s got a full belly for the next few days so it’s nice to know we can make a difference for him,’ she said. 

Constables Sheridan Jones (left) and Simon Jacobson (right) had been called to the store in Ashwood, Melbourne on Sunday night when they spotted the man sitting outside 

The two constables are seen speaking to the homeless man and giving him the bag of groceries on Sunday night

The two constables are seen speaking to the homeless man and giving him the bag of groceries on Sunday night

Constable Jacobson said they were relieved to know the man had a place to sleep that night which was only a few minutes away from the Woolworths.

‘He was a really nice guy and seemed extremely genuine so we thought we would just get him some food,’ he said.

Ms Barbaro shared the now viral footage on Facebook and said she had just parked her car outside the store when the officers caught her eye.  

‘A few steps ahead of me were two police officers heading straight for a homeless man sitting at the entry,’ she wrote.

‘He had a handwritten sign requesting spare change so he could get some food. 

‘As the officers approached him, instead of saying ‘time to move on’ or ‘you know you can’t be here’, one of them said ‘What brings you out in the cold tonight mate?”

The pair bought the man a roast chicken, rolls, chocolate, pasta and milk to ensure he wouldn't spend another night hungry

The pair bought the man a roast chicken, rolls, chocolate, pasta and milk to ensure he wouldn’t spend another night hungry

Ms Barbaro said she overheard the homeless man say he was hungry before she walked into the store. 

‘As I made my way through the automatic doors I could hear the officers say, ”We just wanna make sure you’re OK mate”’. 

Ms Barbaro said she started to walk up and down the aisles and fill her trolley with groceries when she noticed the officers pick up a few items themselves.  

She said both constables split the groceries at the checkout. 

The touching footage has pulled at the heartstrings of social media users who have heaped nothing but praise onto the officers.

‘These are the kinds of police I have known in my 30 years of being married to one,’ one person wrote.

Another person commented: ‘Being in that line of work it’s disappointing that the good that is done is rarely acknowledged.’

Others said they were fighting hard to hold back the tears.