Police Officers Help Out Homeless Man

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- The Alexandria Police Department is winning praise on Facebook for the actions one officer took in helping a homeless man on Tuesday night.

In a post on its official Facebook page, the department told readers that several officers responded to a report of suspicious activity in the 1000 block of Colonial Avenue. When they arrived, they found a homeless man who was barefoot and hungry.

Without hesitation, one officer went back to his patrol car, fetched a pair of his own Nike athletic shoes and gave them to the unidentified homeless man. He also gave the man his dinner, a sandwich.

"A true story of kindness and compassion that occurred in your community," the department said on Facebook.

As of 6 p.m. Thursday, the post had drawn 58 comments and 175 shares. Virtually everyone who wrote a comment thanked the officers for their kindness and compassion, and the comments came from city residents and from places as far away as Germany.

One person wrote: "Thank you for treating this man with dignity and humanity. And for seeing him as a person instead of someone 'suspicious.'"

"That's doing the right thing," someone else wrote. "Helping each other in this life ... no greater calling."

To check out the Facebook post, please click here.