Christmas Decoration Thieves Caught on Tape

The season of giving has taken a sour turn in Massapequa as two women were caught on camera stealing Christmas decorations, according to CBS New York.

Jean Aiello told CBS she found her family’s 10-foot-tall inflatable yule slide, bedecked with penguins and a polar bear, had gone missing Sunday morning. But thanks to surveillance cameras the Aiellos installed the night before, the culprits were caught on tape.

Footage shows a white sedan circling the Boston Avenue area around 2 a.m. and two young women dashing across the Aiello’s lawn, yanking free the display, one of them even looking directly at the camera, and dragging it away.

“It’s the holiday season. We’re just trying to make things special for the little ones,” Aiello told CBS New York, “and it’s just a shame that people have to touch other people’s things and steal. That’s wrong.”

This type of incident also hit another home near Boston Avenue, as Eric Rissanen reported to CBS New York that teens stole from his 200-piece holiday decoration.

“They’re just Grinches,” Rissanen told CBS New York. “I mean, you try to bring joy to people’s lives by putting up a nice, colorful decoration, and if you’re going to steal it and rob it, leave it alone.”

Karen Duffy, of Island Park, also experienced theft of holiday decor and caught the act on camera. A woman was seen stealing the candy cane lollipops the Duffy family used to decorate their yard.

Late Monday afternoon, Nassau County police made an arrest in the Island Park theft. Tiffany Fischer, 31, was allegedly caught on camera stealing decorative candy canes. She was charged with petit larceny.

To contact the Nassau County Police Department with details or information regarding the thefts, call 516-573-6700.

[Video courtesy of CBS New York]