THIEF WRITES APOLOGY NOTE, & RETURNS MONEY FOR ROBBERY 11 YEARS LATER

 

Keosavanh Xayarath, owner of the InterAsian Market & Deli in Nashville, Tennessee, has never forgotten being robbed at gunpoint more than a decade ago. Recently memories of the crime resurfaced for Keosavanh and his son, Somboon Wu, when the elder owner received a mysterious envelope from a man who entered the store. Somboon said, “He was really insistent that we take this, that we had to take this.” Eventually the unidentified man told them that the delivery was important because it contained money. Feeling hesitant about the odd transaction, the family considered calling their lawyer before opening the envelope marked “Owner.”
Keosavanh finally opened the envelope and inside found a handwritten letter and four $100 bills. The letter was written by a man who said he was a drug addict when he robbed the store of $300 around 11 years ago. The anonymous apology stated, “I do not use drugs anymore and I feal [sic] I must make amends to the people I have hurt in the past.” The owners were floored saying, “It’s just, it’s amazing. It’s inspirational really, for somebody to have the courage, to come back and face the person you’ve done wrong… Even though um, it’s hard sometimes, we need to give people a second chance.” Somboon added, "If he's watching, wherever life takes you, just know that we, we forgive you for what you did."
The family was so touched by the apology that they decided to post the note on their store Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages to ensure “Anonymous” would know he was forgiven. “Obviously he has, he has a great heart, but he just got caught up in a really, some bad situations,” said Somboon. “We feel for the guy and we, we just hope that, you know, that whatever he does after this, that it’s great things for him.”