Earlier this week, we asked you to opine on the situation of a Target customer who had inadvertently walked out of the store without paying for a DVD. Many of you said he should return the disc or contact Target to pay for it. Now comes the story of another shopper so burdened with guilt that he recently sent money to a hardware store from which he’d stolen a hammer decades earlier.

The owners of a Johnstown, PA, hardware store recently received a letter and some cash from an anonymous shoplifter who says the hammer was pilfered around 25 to 30 years ago.

“I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway. Enclosed is $45 to cover the hammer plus a little extra for interest,” reads the unsigned letter. “I’m sorry I stole it, but have changed my ways.”

The hardware store folks, who donated the money to the Salvation Army, say this is the first time a shoplifter has paid for a purloined item in the 50 years they’ve owned the business.

Anonymous thief pays for stolen hammer, decades later [Reuters]

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