A thief, caught on security camera, took a variety of Halloween decorations from a family’s lawn, including a child’s cherished skeleton dog.
Two tombstones, a fake skull, and a plastic skeleton dog named “Ellie” were stolen from the Ostrander family’s front yard in Surprise, Arizona at around 4 a.m. on October 21, as reported by FOX 10.
“It’s disappointing that we can’t even decorate our homes for Halloween without worrying about someone taking our things,” Sydney Ostrander shared with the outlet.
The family realized something was wrong when Sydney’s mother called emergency services about a tree that had crushed her van during a storm that night.
Initially, they thought the decorations had just been blown around by the wind, but after reviewing the security footage, they discovered a thief in action.
The video shows the moments leading up to the theft, revealing the perpetrator getting out of her car and grabbing a skeleton decoration from a neighbor’s yard before targeting the Ostranders’ decorations.
Then, the thief was seen gathering items from the family’s lawn and speeding away in her Jeep, as captured in the footage.
According to Sydney, her children were especially upset about losing “Ellie,” the skeleton dog from their Halloween display. The mom commented, “Although it may seem like just a Halloween decoration, Ellie was part of a family display that our children loved.”
The decorations, worth around $100, were noted in a police report, and Sydney expressed her willingness to prosecute the thief, according to the news outlet.
After sharing the video of the theft, other residents in Surprise also came forward with their own surveillance footage, indicating the same vehicle appeared to be involved in targeting their Halloween decorations, as reported by the FOX affiliate.
Surprise police are currently looking into the series of decoration thefts, but so far, there have been no arrests or suspect descriptions announced.
