< Back to front page Text size – +

Thieves channel the Grinch, steal holiday decorations in Middleborough

Print | Comments () Posted by Martin Finucane December 15, 2010 04:46 PM

Tweet
E-mail

By Jeff Fish, Globe Correspondent

Middleborough police are investigating a string of Christmas capers in which Grinch-like thieves slunk through town at night, stealing holiday decorations from people’s lawns.

There have been 12 reported cases of Christmas decoration thefts since Dec. 3, Police Lieutenant Peter Andrade said.

“I do not recall in the 25 years I’ve worked here there being this many cases of larceny of Christmas decorations from people’s front lawns,” he said, adding that there are usually one or two cases a year.

Some of the items stolen have ended up on other people’s lawns, added to their displays, leading Andrade to think the culprits are a small group of young people playing pranks.

Robert Algier, 77, had a six-foot Santa holding a mailbox stolen. “I went out to get the mail one morning and it was gone. There was just a hole in the ground,” he said.

He said the mailbox was found in another person’s front yard in a nearby development several days later, and police brought it back. “It was damaged and I had to repair it. It took me two or three days to repair it.”

Police see no particular reason for the sudden spike in holiday heists. “There’s no black market for Christmas decorations,” Andrade said.

Items stolen include inflatable Santas and snowmen, Nativity scenes, lighted reindeer, a train, a string of lights, and “the most iconic one, a 10-foot inflatable Grinch,” said Andrade.

Amy Panciocco, 47, of Stone Street became another victim of the thefts when a lighted reindeer was stolen from her home.

“We were just upset because it had been put up every year for close to 10 years,” she said, adding that she was surprised that it was stolen because she lives on a quiet street.

Panciocco’s yard has other decorations that were undisturbed, but the reindeer was in the darkest part of the yard and brightened things up. “It looked better that way with his glowing red nose," she said.

The Pancioccos weren’t as lucky as Algier and haven’t recovered their stolen item.

“We would just like [the culprits] to return it, no questions asked,” said Panciocco. “They came in the dead of night to take it. They can bring it back the same way.”

Police said the thieves have hit houses all over town, making them difficult to catch. “It’s difficult with three marked cruisers on the road to be everywhere at one time,” Andrade said.

Police received their only lead Tuesday night with a report of “two teenagers in a white boxy sedan in the area of the theft of a three-foot inflatable Santa, which was later recovered,” he said.

The thefts, mostly in Middleborough, seem to have spilled over to neighboring Rochester, he said. “This type of larceny has people irritated. People put a lot of work into" the displays, he said.