Crime & Safety

Oconee Co. Sheriff's Office Staff Replaces Child's Stolen Christmas Presents

The gifts were taken from an unlocked car on Bradford Place sometime overnight Christmas Eve to early Christmas morning.

When presents for a little girl were discovered missing from the car of a family visiting friends in Oconee County early Christmas morning,  Sheriff's Office personnel took it upon themselves to make sure the 3-year-old would have gifts to open.

According to an incident report, the Nissan Xterra had been parked in a driveway at a residence in the 1000 block of Bradford Place off of Union Church Road.  Shortly after 1 a.m., a woman realized someone had entered the unlocked vehicle and had removed her daughter's presents and a new Samsung Galaxy cell phone.

The woman had a receipt for the cell phone with identifying information, which was entered into the National Crime Information Center as stolen.

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Oconee 911 Center operators and deputies worked to replace as many of the  presents as possible to ensure that the daughter of the victim had gifts on Christmas, according to the report.

On Thursday, the following details about the "elves" were posted on the Sheriff's Office Facebook page:

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"They pooled their money and some of them went to Walgreen's in Athens....the shift commander went home and got some things he had there....they also bought wrapping paper and bows and got everything wrapped and delivered in time for Christmas morning."

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