Security footage shows ‘Grinch’ run over a family’s Christmas decorations, police say
Casie Arnold says she and her family were watching a Christmas show in her Indiana home on Sunday night when they were startled by a “pop.”
“It wasn’t substantially loud,” she told The Indianapolis Star, “but it was enough to make us look at each other and say, ‘What was that’?”
They soon discovered the source of the sound — someone had used a car to run over a 12-foot snowman decoration the family put in front of their home in Greenwood, according to RTV6. There were tire tracks on the lawn, Arnold said, and they led to the snowman.
But a neighbor’s security camera recorded the Grinch-esque crime, according to The Associated Press. It shows a man inspect the family’s front yard and then get into his black SUV, which he used to run over the snowman before driving out of the camera’s view.
For Arnold, the destruction of the $100 decoration sent a scary message to her and her family.
“It’s very disturbing to see someone pull in front of your house, get out of the car, look at the scene - kind of look around with intention to do damage,” Arnold told RTV6. “It’s kinda scary because ya know, we both have young children. There’s lots of young children around here; you never know who could be out and about.”
She added to The Indianapolis Star: “Quite honestly, you think it’s targeted or done with some intention.”
Police say they are investigating the crime, according to RTV6.
Last December, a Texas man woke up on Christmas Eve to discover that his fog machine and inflatable reindeer were missing, WCNC reported. So he checked security footage outside of his house in San Antonio, and that’s when he saw the “Grinch” who stole his festive decorations at around 3 a.m. in just five minutes.
“He was so slow and methodical, that’s what reminded us of the story of the Grinch,” Lamkin told WCNC.
So he got an idea for some lighthearted revenge. Lamkin decked out his front yard with large pictures of the alleged thief, and also continued to loop the security footage to the tune of “The Grinch,” according to Fox San Antonio.
“We printed up some posters, put them up on some poster board,” he told Fox29. “We wanted to keep it in the spirit of things so we made it like a Christmas decoration.”
And in Bel Air, Maryland, police say they are looking for the “Grinch” that likely instructed a young girl to steal a package from a stranger’s front porch.
Police say security footage from November 30 shows a young girl rush onto a stranger’s front lawn, and then turn around as if receiving instructions, before she steals a package on the porch and runs away.
The young child stole a package containing boots that belonged to Vallan Hardison, whose home security camera recorded the theft, WJZ reported.
After checking the footage, Hardison told WJZ that she was “definitely shocked that it was such a small child.”
“Coming up to my front door and running away with my package,” she told WJZ. “Not something I was expecting to see.”