A disgruntled customer called 911 to report a homeless man. So the police bought him lunch

A homeless man's interaction with the police in South Carolina is going viral - but this time for all the right reasons.

On 26 May, police were called to Hardee's restaurant in South Carolina because a homeless man had entered and was 'asking for scraps'.

According to Fox News, the restaurant had been feeding him for days, and so a disgruntled customer called the police.

But, instead of forcibly removing the man, or arresting him, officer CJ Mullinax of Horry County Police Department instead pulled his wallet from his pocket and bought the man two cheeseburgers.

The moment was caught on video by Facebook user Victoria Summer, and has now had more than 92,000 views.

Writing in the post, she said:

Police were called to our restaurant today because a homeless man was asking people for their scraps to eat. This police officer bought the homeless man food and handled the situation amazingly.

Many Facebook users have left comments on the video praising Mullinax for showing compassion.

One commented:

Good job officer . Your act of buying food for him will spare a lot for you. Always be the good person, to save someone to hunger.

Another claimed to have met the homeless man, and said that he's a veteran who had fallen on hard times:

That Homeless man is Donald. I met him over at the Walmart in market Common the other day and since he’s a veteran and very humble...

He served in the Army from 1978-1981 then got out, worked in construction and then hit a wall which brought him to a point in his life that walked him down the road to homelessness.... his family doesn’t talk to him and he’s the nicest guy. 

This isn't the first time Officer CJ Mullinax has gone viral for doing good.

In 2015, Mullinax was caught on camera playing a friendly game of football with some children. The video was posted to YouTube, and reported on Local 12 News.

Speaking to 12 Local, he said:

I was just cruising through Fletcher Street. Kids started waving and I was like hey, I have worked hard enough for today so Im a stop, hang out with the kids for a little while. I had to be all-time quarterback.

The example of police compassion comes after a string of violent incidents between civilians and police in America that have gone viral.

Earlier this month, a man was violently choke-slammed outside Waffle House in Wawsaw, North Carolina; in January, high profile NBA basketball player Sterling Brown was tasered by police when he parked over two disabled slots in a parking lot; and earlier this week, a young mother was punched in the head by police on a beach in New Jersey.

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