Grandmother accused of shoplifting with granddaughter
FRIENDSWOOD, Texas – A grandmother was arrested after allegedly stealing items from an HEB.
Melinda Lugo Magallanes, 47, has been charged with theft.
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Authorities say Magallanes and her 14-year-old granddaughter hid stolen items in their jackets and purses. They went through the checkout line and paid for some items but not the concealed items, according to the Friendswood Police Department.
Investigators say Magallanes and her granddaughther were confronted by a store employee who found $79 worth of stolen merchandise. The items stolen included a corsage, tweezers, a curling iron, Lindor chocolates and lunch meat.
Police say the 14-year-old was released to the custody of her mother.
Cop’s Act of Kindness Toward Shoplifting Grandma
Rachel Bertsche, Writer
Updated Thu, December 25, 2014 at 10:38 PM GMT+7
Stacy, Johnson and Johnson’s granddaughter. Photo by Joe Songer/AL.com
Since Yahoo Parenting launched on Oct. 23, the editors and writers have posted nearly 600 stories on the site. They chose this article – originally published on Dec. 15 – as a highlight of the pieces that offer trusted advice, inspire provocative conversations, and hopefully add a little fun to your life, every day.
When Tarrant, Alabama Police Officer William Stacy was called to the Dollar General store on Saturday, December 6, he wasn’t especially surprised. “We get shoplifting calls at Dollar General all the time,” he tells Yahoo Parenting. “Usually people are stealing things like makeup or phone chargers – not things they need to get by.”
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So when Stacy arrived to find 47-year-old Helen Johnson stealing eggs to feed her two daughters, her niece, and two young grandkids, he knew this incident was different. Johnson explained to Stacy that her family hadn’t eaten since Thursday. So instead of making an arrest, the officer, 23, bought Johnson a carton of eggs. “When she mentioned the kids and said they were hungry, that’s when I knew I wanted to buy the eggs,” Stacy says. “No matter what financial situation kids are in, it’s not their fault they’re hungry.”
Johnson tried to give Stacy the $1.25 she had in her pocket for the eggs, which cost $1.75 plus tax, but instead he asked only for a promise she wouldn’t shoplift again. Johnson told local news AL.com that she was shocked by the officer’s good deed. “I was like ‘Oh my God, thank you Jesus for this man,” she said. “He is my hero.”
Photo by Joe Songer/AL.com
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The act of kindness was caught on video by another customer, Robert Tripp, and posted to Facebook, where it was been viewed more than 966,000 times and has received more than 22,000 likes. It has been shared nearly 13,000 times.
After letting Johnson go home, Stacy says his Lieutenant helped her sign up for the Tarrant Fire Department’s Toy Drive, which provides Christmas toys and food for families at the holidays. By that Wednesday, when Stacy returned to work, donations from across the country started pouring in for the Johnson family – a response to the viral video, which Tripp labeled #feelgoodstoryoftheday. “It took an entire shift to take all the stuff to her house and unload it,” Stacy says of the afternoon he spent delivering groceries to the Johnsons . “I’ve taken three Tahoe loads of food to her house, and I know a food bank came to bring her food, and they also got a Christmas tree donated.”
Photo by Joe Songer/AL.com
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Stacy says he’s hoping this story will inspire people to donate to other hungry families as well. “It’s a rought city to live in,” Stacy says of Tarrant. “There are a lot of people who need food.” Stacy says the Tarrant Police Department is using this opportunity to start a fund to help feed the community as a whole.
On Facebook, users are calling Stacy “an angel in disguise,” but the officer says he was just doing his job. “There’s a real trust issue between law enforcement and citizens right now, but hopefully this shows we are not robots who just want to arrest people,” Stacy says. “We have hearts – you have to have a big heart and clear conscience of mind to do this job.”
Photo by Joe Songer/AL.com
Stacy says he still can’t believe the attention the story has gotten, since he didn’t know the interaction was filmed in the first place. “I don’t see myself as a hero. I’m not a big fan of cameras and the spotlight, I just want to do my job, do it the right way, and spend time with friends and family.”
The officer doesn’t have kids of his own, but says his fiancée has a 6-year-old son. “I’ve known him since he was one and I consider him one of mine,” he says. “I know what it’s like to have kids, and it’s tough. It’s the holidays, and I’m glad I could help this family.”
The Tarrant Police Department is still collecting donations for the Johnson family and other local residents. To donate, send checks to:
Tarrant Police Department Charity Fund Or Tarrant Police Department Charity Fund Johnson Family People’s First Credit Union 1140 Ford Ave. Tarrant, AL 35217
Please follow @YahooParenting on Facebook,Twitter,Instagram, and Pinterest. Have an interesting story to share about your family? E-mail us at YParenting (at) Yahoo.com. View comments
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Stocks sell off globally as traders digest Trump message saying he wants Greenland because ‘your Country decided not to give me the Nobel’
Jim Edwards
Mon, January 19, 2026 at 6:30 PM GMT+7
5 min read
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Stock markets went into a global selloff this morning as world leaders at Davos woke up to the news that U.S. President Trump had written to the prime minister of Norway to say that his repeated threats to take over Greenland were based on the fact that he didn’t win the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize … I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,” Trump’s message to Jonas Gahr Støre said. “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”
The Norwegian government has no control over how the Nobel Committee awards its prizes. Greenland is a territory of Denmark, not Norway.
Late last night, Trump posted again on social media, “NATO has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that ‘you have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland.’ Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it. Now it is time, and it will be done!!!”
Traders, dismayed by the prospect of a renewed trade war between the U.S. and Europe, reacted by driving down equities all over the world.
S&P 500 futures were down 1.12% this morning—an unusually steep drop. The last session closed flat. (Markets in the U.S. are closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.) The STOXX Europe 600 fell 1.25% in early trading, and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 0.49% before lunch. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.65%. China’s CSI 300 was flat. India’s NIFTY 50 was down 0.42%. Bitcoin declined to $93K. The only major national index having a good day was South Korea, where the KOSPI rose 1.32%.
Gold, the traditional safe-haven investment, hit a new record high of $4,673.4 on the Comex continuous contract.
Wall Street’s analysts broadly agree that President Trump’s repeated threats to force Denmark to “give back” Greenland and to impose an escalating series of trade tariffs on the U.K. and E.U. if those countries don’t comply are bad for equities globally. They differ only in their assessment of how bad this will get.
ING’s Carsten Brzeski and Bert Colijn told clients, “Overall, we can only repeat our earlier estimates that additional tariffs of 25% would probably shave 0.2 percentage points off European GDP growth. However, this model-based estimate definitely falls short in capturing the full impact of new uncertainty and geopolitical tensions as a result of escalated tensions.”
They also cautioned, “As has been the case before, it is not exactly clear how this will work out as there has been no official communication from the White House, yet, just Trump’s announcement on social media.”
The pair also warned that Trump may be underestimating how resistant Europe is going to be. “While Europe, at least initially, seems to be determined to stand up against the latest tariff threat and the U.S. President’s claims on Greenland, the reality is that Europe is still dependent on the U.S. in many ways, both from an economic and security point of view. This was likely one of the central reasons behind the E.U.’s agreement last summer to agree to a trade deal with the U.S. that did not benefit Europe. Whether the new tariff threat and the situation in Greenland turn out to be the tipping point that finally triggers European unity and Europe’s rise as a geopolitical power remains to be seen. What is clear is that a full-blown trade war between the E.U. and the U.S. would leave only losers.”
At UBS, Paul Donovan’s morning note warned that new tariffs could rebound against American consumers. “Threatened U.S. tariffs appear more serious than those relating to Iran … they imply U.S. consumer prices of goods from the E.U. and UK will increase 4% to 10% (within about six months). This may reinforce the narrative of the U.S. affordability crisis.”
“Policy uncertainty is resurrected for U.S. businesses. This has constrained investment and hiring, but might have faded as firms adapt. Uncertainty on this scale may again put U.S. corporate activity on pause.”
There is also the question of whether Trump has enough domestic political capital to sustain his desire to conquer Greenland.
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“A Reuters/Ipsos poll last week suggested that only 17% of US citizens supported efforts to acquire Greenland, with 47% against. Only 4% approved of using military force with only 8% of Republican voters agreeing,” Jim Reid and his team at Deutsche Bank told clients this morning.
Here’s a snapshot of the markets ahead of the opening bell in New York this morning:
- S&P 500 futures were down 1.12% this morning. The last session closed flat. Markets in the U.S. are closed for MLK Day.
- STOXX Europe 600 was down 1.25% in early trading.
- The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 0.49% in early trading.
- Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.65%.
- China’s CSI 300 was flat.
- The South Korea KOSPI was up 1.32%.
- India’s NIFTY 50 was down 0.42%.
- Bitcoin was down to $93K.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.comView comments
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Broncos signing veteran quarterback following Bo Nix’s season-ending injury
Mike Moraitis
Mon, January 19, 2026 at 5:09 AM GMT+7
1 min read
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Broncos signing veteran quarterback following Bo Nix’s season-ending injury originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Denver Broncos are adding a quarterback in the wake of the season-ending injury to quarterback Bo Nix.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Broncos are signing veteran quarterback Ben DiNucci to their practice squad ahead of the AFC Championship Game.
DiNucci has spent time with the Broncos and under head coach Sean Payton in the past, so he’s already familiar with the team’s offensive system, which likely led to Denver deciding he was the guy to bring in.
The signing comes one day after Nix suffered a broken bone in his ankle that will require surgery and end his season. Nix came down with the issue in the overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round on Saturday.
A former seventh-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 2020, DiNucci has only appeared in three games during his career, all of which came in his rookie year.
In all, DiNucci has completed 23-of-43 passes for 219 yards and zero touchdowns to zero picks.
DiNucci also had a stint in the XFL in 2023, where he completed 64.7% of his passes for 2,671 yards and 20 touchdowns to 13 interceptions.
Payton has announced that backup Jarrett Stidham will start for Denver in next week’s AFC title game, with Sam Ehlinger backing him up.
“Stiddy is ready to go,” Payton said. “… He’s ready, he’s ready. I feel like I’ve got a two who’s capable of starting for a number of teams, and I know he feels the same way. Watch out, just watch.”
So, DiNucci is simply a body for the Broncos in the event more injury strikes them at the position moving forward.
