GALLOWAY, Ohio — More pure than winter’s whitest snow is a child’s Christmas look of excitement.
Last Friday, 3-year-old Emmanuel Paez was surprised by his parents with an 11-foot inflatable Santa on his front yard.
“His face was just in awe,” his mother Taylor Allen said. “He just dropped his jaw like ‘Oh, my gosh’.”
Allen says it was a sense of joy for her son and a sense of being able to provide for her.
“We work hard for what we have,” she said. “Everything we have is on our own and trying to do good for our toddler and getting him this inflatable that he was beyond joyed for. It’s just disgusting to see some kids come by and just steal it.”
Less than two days after surprising their son, the Santa inflatable was stolen.
The tail end of the act was captured on Allen’s home security camera. A neighbor also shared her home security video with 10TV, which shows a car pulling up to Allen’s home.
Someone then jumps out and runs across the yard, grabs the Santa and then races back to the vehicle. The person puts the inflatable on the top of the vehicle and then the car drives away.
“I know it’s not as bad as like a car being stolen, but…it really affected my toddler,” Allen said.
Allen filed an online report with the Columbus Division of Police. As of now, Santa has not been found. Allen and her boyfriend took down their remaining yard decorations for fear it could happen again.
And they’re not the only ones.
Another security camera recorded a clip taken just down the street from Allen one day before Santa was stolen.
It shows a light-color sedan pulling up and then a person runs across the yard and tackles a giant inflatable snowman.
The owner tells 10TV it tore the decoration, breaking it, and that her 2-year-old child was devastated. She says she never filed a police report because they couldn’t get a license plate or clear image of the person’s face.
Allen hopes at the very least those responsible will understand whereas it might seem like harmless fun, it’s destruction of property, theft and more than anything it’s putting a damper on a child’s Christmas.