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Delivery driver destroys elderly couple's groceries after discovering police 'thank you' sign in front yard — but the internet opens its pocketbooks to help
Image source: KMSP-TV video screenshot

Delivery driver destroys elderly couple's groceries after discovering police 'thank you' sign in front yard — but the internet opens its pocketbooks to help

Police say a grocery delivery driver destroyed a Minnesota elderly couple's groceries after seeing a pro-police sign in their front yard.

Social media users, however, have rallied and donated thousands of dollars to the couple in support of them and in compensation for the sweet couple's bizarre and disturbing ordeal.

What are the details?

An Instacart delivery driver was said to have smashed the elderly couple's groceries after becoming enraged by a "thank you" sign to police in the customers' front yard and reportedly left a disturbing note for the elderly folks.

The incident took place earlier this month when the unnamed couple placed an Instacart order from their local grocery store.

The Instacart shopper, identified by her first name, Tara, was said to have shopped the couple's order and arrived at their home for drop-off.

When she arrived, however, she apparently became enraged after seeing a yard sign expressing gratitude for the local police department.

Amber Gray, a relative of the elderly couple, took to her Facebook page to recount her loved ones' experience.

“Today two of my elderly relatives were victims of a hateful act," she wrote. "Targeted because of a small yard sign supporting their local police department."

“These people are two of the most beautiful, generous, loving souls I’ve ever known," Gray's post continued. "This past year has been a rollercoaster of heartache and big life changes for them. Money is tight. Vulnerability is high. This morning they made an Instacart grocery purchase to be delivered to their door. Nothing crazy. Just a couple of bags worth. They received the usual notifications; Tara is shopping, Tara is on her way, Tara is in your neighborhood. Worried that Tara might struggle in their un-shoveled driveway, they rushed out to meet her.”

According to Gray, Tara's arrival took a turn for the worse.

“As they opened the door they heard Tara screaming for them to check inside their Christmas wreath,” she recalled. “It also seemed that she was stuck in the driveway, rocking the car back and forth to get free? Seeing no groceries anywhere they checked the wreath. To their utter disbelief they found a hateful note crudely scribbled on a random receipt. In harsh bold marker it read, ‘Instacart doesn’t pay employees sry find another slave f*** the police racist pigs.’”

Just a short time later, the couple discovered the groceries in the driveway — what Gray called "casualties of Tara's hateful act."

“She wasn’t stuck after all, she was running their groceries over," Gray added. “Tara probably doesn’t know how carefully those $50 in groceries were budgeted for. Or how devastating the recent medical diagnosis has been. Or how scared and vulnerable her vile act of hatred made them feel. My heart breaks for my loved ones.”

What else?

In a statement, Blaine Police Chief Brian Podany said that the woman's behavior is "really uncalled for."

“We’ve seen things with signs in the past, but something this brazen is really unfortunate and really uncalled for,” Podany said.

The woman, a 36-year-old from Coon Rapids, has reportedly refused to speak with law enforcement in connection with the incident.

“We’re in law enforcement, we get not everybody likes us, we understand that, but don’t take that out on innocent people out there, especially people who are trying to contribute to this person’s livelihood,“ Podany added.

According to a report from KMSP-TV, Instacart got involved when the company heard the news and refunded the elderly couple's grocery order. The company also announced that it dismissed the shopper in question.

“We’re appalled by the unacceptable actions of this shopper, who has been removed from the Instacart platform as a result,” the company said in a statement on the hateful incident. “We’ve been in direct contact with the customers to refund their order and provide additional resources. We’ll continue to provide support to the impacted customers and will also work directly with local law enforcement on any investigations into this matter.”

A GoFundMe page set up to benefit the couple has received more than $12,000 at the time of this reporting.

It is unclear at the time of this reporting whether the former Instacart shopper will face any charges in connection with the incident.

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