s after they found out he had gone hungry for two days and only had NT$15 left on him. The 49-year-old, surnamed Li, stole five boxed meals from a convenience store near his residence in Keelung City Nov. 19. Police were immediately called to the scene after the store employee caught Li in the act.
A sobbing and trembling Li told police he hadn’t eaten in two days and stole the boxed meals out of desperation.
After hearing Li’s story, the convenience store clerk agreed to give away the meal boxes free of charge.
A Keelung district prosecutor who heard of the situation gave Li NT$1,000, which he accepted only on condition that the money was a loan and not a donation. Another police officer later gave Li an additional NT$1,000 to help him find employment.
Li lost his job earlier this year after his previous employer, a small electronics company, went bankrupt. He told the United Daily News he was already four months behind on his mortgage payments.
Li said he had applied for positions such as security guard and store employee, but was refused on the grounds that he was “too old.”
Li said he was very willing to do any type of work, as long as he had a job.
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