8-Year-Old Caught on Video Stealing Packages, Neighbors Still Waiting for Apology (VIDEO)
A person was caught on camera stealing packages from the porches of her neighbors in what is the embodiment of what it means to be a scrooge for Christmas.
Neighbors in a Florida suburb outside of Orlando were alarmed when several packages went missing. The neighbors decided to find out who was stealing by setting up hidden cameras.
Local reports indicate that three different homes on the same street noticed that packages they were expecting never made it leaving the residents without some of their Christmas presents.
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"Everybody thought (it was a) teenager, because of the timeframe of when these were being stolen, around the bus stop," Jessica Araujo, who had several items taken from her porch, told Central Florida News 13.
The group of neighbors decided to try and catch the bandit by setting up several hidden cameras and leaving decoy packages in the front of the homes that had had packages taken before.
Araujo's daughter, Thalia, was waiting behind the door about to give up after watching both the high school and middle school kids got off the bus and walk past. She was not prepared for what she saw next as the elementary bus dropped off its students.
"I was waiting behind the door and I had my camera ready, and I was, like, 'Oh, my God'" … the neighbor was walking my way, and I was like, 'The little girl, she's over there. She stole it,'" Thalia told Central Flordia News 13.
Much to everyone's surprise the little Grinch was actually an 8-year-old girl who lived nearby.
"Complete and utter shock it wasn't a teenager; it wasn't a passer-by -- it was an 8-year-old … one year younger than my daughter." Araujo said.
Police have not charged the girl and revealed they planned on presenting the case to the juvenile division of the Florida state Attorney's Office to see what should be done given the age of the girl. The neighbors are still waiting to hear from the girl or the girl's parents.
"We want something done, in the form of the parents stepping up to the plate, taking accountability and saying, 'We're sorry this happened to you and the other neighbors,' maybe even having the child come over and apologize," Araujo told Central Flordia news 13.
