Mom Accused Of Being Grinch: Returns Shop With A Cop Merchandise For Cash

This story happened in my neck of the woods, and it disgusts me.

First let me link you the article, then I will explain why this disgusts me.

Disgusting Link

LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB Fox 41) -- A Meade County woman is taken to jail after turning in "Shop With a Cop" toys and clothing for cash.

The Fraternal Order of Police held the "Shop With a Cop" event December 14th. Meade County Sheriff's Deputy Bryan Rogers helped four children find toys and warm clothes that day.

Deputy Rogers, however, says he was angered to learn that the mother of the children had returned the gifts for cash the following day.

28-year-old Amanda Beard of Brandenburg was arrested and charged with theft by deception under $300. She was taken into custody on Friday afternoon and placed into the Meade County
jail.

Do you know what the Shop With A Cop event is? It is where a cop takes a family shopping, because they are underprivileged. It is where a Cop tries to bring a bit of joy into the life of a family. It is where the Cop buys GIFTS for this family, and what is a GIFT?

GIFTS come with NO STRINGS ATTATCHED, otherwise they are NOT GIFTS.

I am DISGUSTED but NOT surprised that an innocent gift giving event turned into Jack Boot Nation for this poor mother and her family. She should NEVER have trusted these cops, and now, we have a family TORN apart because some control freak jack boot got his little feelings hurt and raged because this mother DARED take her GIFTS and do what she pleased with them.



This is a dangerous program, and a conspiracy against families.

The article does not mention a legal binding contract in which the gifts are only to be used in certain ways.

Once a gift is gifted the giftee needs to BUTT out and get over it.

I feel really sorry for this woman and her family, because the REAL grinch is as usual the --- who tore this family apart because they got angry she returned a few GIFTS.



Merry JackBoot Christmas, Kids!! The --- put your mommy away, and wow, what a Christmas Miracle that gift will turn out to be.

Maybe the conspiracy is to break up the family so the cops will have ensured future business.

Just to clarify.

In AMERIKA, if you so much as ANGER one of the jackboots pretending to be protectors, you WILL BE JAILED.

There is NO CRIME here, yet the JackBoots broke up and ruined a family, all over an event meant to HELP families.

This is disgusting.

So... the "terrible" cops took this woman and her children out to buy them toys and warm clothes...
and she returned the items for cash the very next day...
and you think that it is wrong for her to be called on the carpet for this?

Tell that to her children when they are freezing because they have no winter coats,
and they are sad because they have no gifts under the tree,
while their mother spends the cash.

I am sure if she qualifies for "Shop with a Cop" then she is receiving assistance from other
programs as well.

Originally posted by thegoodearth
So... the "terrible" cops took this woman and her children out to buy them toys and warm clothes...
and she returned the items for cash the very next day...
and you think that it is wrong for her to be called on the carpet for this?

Tell that to her children when they are freezing because they have no winter coats,
and they are sad because they have no gifts under the tree,
while their mother spends the cash.

I am sure if she qualifies for "Shop with a Cop" then she is receiving assistance from other
programs as well.

That is EXACTLY what I think.

Can you justify jailing an american citizen who has not commited a crime?

I'm beginning to have a hard time justifying cops....

This is patently ridiculous. regardless of whether or not what she did was tacky in the extreme, jailing a mom right before Christmas when there was no crime is borderline criminal. And they're calling her a Grinch? Christ give me strength...

This is a description of what the program is like:

Each year, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge #116, sponsor, and organize, the bringing together of children and law enforcement in an evening of Christmas shopping at the Grafton Walmart.
Before the shopping spree could begin, the children were dropped off and signed in at Anna Jarvis Elementary School.

There, they were treated to dinners of pizza and chicken, with drinks, courtesy of Hometown Pizza, Dominos and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Hands were raised at every cafeteria table, as members of law enforcement and other chaperones scurried back and forth to serve the children.

After a briefing to the chaperones, including how much money was available for each child to spend and items that were not permitted to be bought, the children were led to two buses supplied by Oak Grove Baptist Church and driven by Tony Williams and Bill Lucas, for their five star escort of red and blue lights to Walmart.

www.mountainstatesman.com...

So, these kids were able to choose their own gifts and bring them home after a happy day where they are treated...

Then, their mother takes their gifts away and turns them in for cash???

I find her behavior disgusting.

reply to post by thegoodearth


So, her legal behavior you find disgusting, but it is AOK for the --- to illegally jail this woman and break up a family? OK.

reply to post by thegoodearth



who ever said that her children didnt already have warm cloths and toys? maybe the mother took the GIFTS back so that she could pay for the electric bill, or her gas bill, or medication. do these children not have grandparents and other family to get presents from? maybe the woman needed gas money to get to work every day? why do you assume that she was taking them back just to have money for her self? and who says that this family even celebrates christmas? maybe she worked the system so that she could get other things she needed to take care of her children.

no matter what she wanted the money for, she broke no laws.

Theft by deception... A victim-less crime? It appears the mother intentionally entered the program to shop with the cop for gifts for her children that she planned to return for cash, from the beginning. She got what was coming to her. Poor kids. What a pity to have a mother, such as she...

ETA:
If she needed money to pay for bills, as others have suggested, there are other social programs in place to help families in need. One does NOT use their children in such a way. This program was voluntarily entered into with intent to deceive the cop out of money and rob her kids. Truly disgusting.

I find her behavior seemingly disgusting too, and she has some explaining to do before that feeling goes away, BUT...
Being tacky, class-less, however one wishes to describe her, doesn't exactly break the law, and I for one refuse to pass any further judgment until I'm more familiar with HER side of the story, which as far as I can tell NOT ONE OF US HERE HAS YET HEARD.


Jeeze, don't be so quick to cast stones, everybody.

reply to post by thegoodearth


it states that they had to go by guide lines of what the children could buy. maybe she took the presents back to get cash for something that the kids really wanted but couldn't get? like an xbox. maybe she had almost enough for the xbox but she still needed a bit more, so she took back the presents, to add to what she already had and was going to give them the best christmas they children ever had?

why condemn a person without knowing their motives?

reply to post by tjack


She may well have a compelling side to her story, in fact, I'm sure she will. However, that does not negate that she willingly took part in a program that was designed for her children's benefit. She did so dishonestly and she robbed her kids. There is apparently a crime that she did break in her scheming... we shall see whether the prosecutor agrees...

As I stated previously, if she qualifies for "Shop with a Cop", then I will wager she gets assistance from other agencies to "pay for food, utilities, etc..."

I have not stated that I agree with the arrest. I find it troubling that
she was arrested for this.

It seems to me that there is more to this story than
what is shown in the article. Hopefully, there will
be further revelations published.

However, defending her actions is ludicrous.

reply to post by LadySkadi
[mo

most programs only give a certain amount per house hold. maybe she needed just a bit more and this program was the only one she could find. or maybe after everything was said and done, she got back home and her kids showed her that they didnt deserve the gifts and she took them back to punish them for being bad? santa only brings gifts to good little boys and girls.

Do you actually think before you start these threads of yours? While the penalty may seem extreme, no one can deny what she did was dishonest and wrong. I say 'may' seem extreme, as we do not know the full circumstances, it may be proven the money was used for anything from alcohol and fags to drugs. Until we do know, it's hard to actually say for sure.
But to try and defend her? along with you're other half baked thread(s)...

reply to post by thegoodearth


no it is sensible. there could be many reasons why she did what she did and every american has the right to be defended.

reply to post by fallow the light


Too many "maybe's" being thrown around. No one knows her intent for returning the gifts, to me it ultimately doesn't matter. She did what she did, she had her reasons and she will have to justify herself to (not only) her own children, but now the court, as well. It's up to the prosecutor now, we shall see...

I had this happen to me a few years ago, and it really bothered me. I joined a Christmas angel group, chose a single mom with one child to help out with Christmas. I was in contact with the mother who told me what her daughter needed/would like for X-mas. We decided it would be easiest for the mother to chose items from an online store, so she copied the contents of her cart ( she picked sizes, colors, etc) and I would pay for it and have it shipped to her. This is how we did it. Gifts were mailed and received by the mother. I told her if there was any problem at all, let me know.
A few days after the items were delivered, I found the mother was selling online all the things I had bought for her daughter. I confronted her, and she said things were the wrong size or not age appropriate! She chose the clothing, the sizes and the toys!! She refused when I asked her to return them and get the right sizes.

Makes you think twice before you try to help someone out.

I think the mother in the article was wrong to do what she did. It's people like her who make people like me leery of helping people out.

reply to post by hotbakedtater

I think it depends on what she spent the money on, if she's paying a bill or rent is one thing but if she's down the street on a bar stool is another. What some don't understand is the desperation of a lot our citizens, when your behind which it sounds like she is toys are not the priority, even if she's getting help it's probably not enough. I wonder what she did with the money?