Brighten Your Day

Restaurant Owner Offers Burglar A Job Instead Of Pressing Charges

April 13, 2021

The owner of a restaurant in Augusta, Georgia, is offering the man who burglarized his business a job.

Credit: Diablo's Southwest Grill

Carl Wallace is the owner of Diablo's Southwest Grill. Last weekend, someone smashed the restaurant's front door with a brick in an attempt to steal cash from the register -- but there wasn't anything in the drawer.

"You know my initial response was, you know, anger, frustration," Wallace told Today. "I realized that we're gonna have to kind of put up a Facebook post about our door looking really, really bad because here we are going to put up two sheets of plywood over the front door to just get through the day."

As he was writing the post to explain the restaurant's door, Wallace had a realization.

"It really kind of occurred to me (that it's) … Easter weekend and to just extend an olive branch," he explained. "You know, extend the layer of forgiveness and kindness and give the … would-be robber some redemption and a different path."

So instead, he wrote a post offering the suspect a job application:

"Our burritos are such a smash hit we've got people breaking in at 4am for their fix. So if ya see our door looking hurricane fabulous at Wheeler Rd this is why.

To the would be robber who is clearly struggling with life decisions or having money issues... please swing by for a job application. There are better opportunities out there than this path you've chosen. My personal cell is 706-513-3557.

No police, no questions. Let's sit down and talk about how we could help you and fix the road you're on.

Sincerely Carl"

Since his offer was posted, Wallace says he's heard from outlets across the world to share his story, as well as pastors from around the country supporting his choice.