Signshop Owner Gives Vandal a Break

Inspired by a mother’s exemplary parenting, an Ohio signmaker is cutting slack to a young man who vandalized his business.

In early December, Jim Grenig, owner of the Aaron Sign Shop in Garfield Heights, viewed surveillance video showing the man kicking out the glass in the front door of his shop during an attempted break-in, Fox 8 News reports.

In an effort to identify the suspect, he hung a large “wanted” poster on the front door he paid $600 to repair, the article explains. He later received a phone call from the mother of the young man and said her son wanted to apologize.

Grenig told the outlet:

“The young man was here in Garfield Heights at a bar Friday night where he got jumped and pistol whipped, had a little alcohol, he was discombobulated, he was hurt, wasn’t thinking right, came over, kicked the door. … I was mad. I wanted ill will, I wanted harm, I wanted retribution, I wanted this and that.”

But Grenig had a change of heart after receiving an apology from the young man. He was also impressed by the mother’s demand that her son take responsibility. “You know, for all the people that I’ve known in my life before that gave me breaks, I gave this kid a break.”

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The parties subsequently agreed to a contract in which Grenig would take down the wanted poster, and the young man would fully pay back the damages.

Read more at Fox 8 News.