'Suspicious Older Male' Giving Candy to Kids in Ontario Was Performing Random Act of Kindness, Cops Say

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A "suspicious older male" who was handing out chocolates to kids in Ontario was simply acting out of kindness, according to local authorities who investigated the incident.

The man, who has not been identified, approached a child who was walking home from school on 13th street in Hanover last Wednesday, according to a press release from the Hanover Police Service (HPS) in Ontario, Canada.

Police said the man parked his car between 9th and 10th Streets and approached a child, who was walking home from school, and offered him a box of the "Pot of Gold" candies.

The man reportedly "insisted" the reluctant child take the chocolates.

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Authorities eventually caught up with the man in question, and learned that he was performing a random act of kindness, according to HPS Chief Christopher Knoll.

Random Acts of Kindness Day occurs each year on Feb. 17. The organization behind the celebration seeks to make kindness the norm, according to its website, and provides several ideas on how to be kind.

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The "suspicious older" man had, in fact, handed out chocolates "to several people of varying ages," Chief Knoll wrote Sunday on Twitter, nothing that police had interviewed him.

"Police determined the motives were pure and genuine," Knoll added in his tweet. "Thank you to everyone who helped us make this determination."