The Grinches who stole Christmas: Security footage shows thieves scampering off with an inflatable Santa and reindeer decorations during raids on homes in California

Security footage shows thieves making off with an inflatable Santa and reindeer decorations during raids on homes in California.

A family in Contra Costa County is scared and angry after a Santa Claus ornament was stolen right off their front porch.

It was supposed to be a surprise for Paul Silva’s seven-year-old daughter Catherine Silva.

The jewelry was stolen from a home on G Street on Saturday.

Paul posted surveillance video on social media showing the parking lot in front of the family’s driveway. One of the suspects exits the vehicle on the rear passenger side, and then the driver exits to open the trunk.

The suspect then mischievously returns to the car with the Santa ornament and throws it in the trunk before the cheeky thieves drive off.

Paul said he knew he wouldn’t get it back.

“I wanted to see if people could recognize these guys to get them to stop doing this,” he said.

His wife Maria says she is concerned for the safety of her family and is annoyed by the pleasure thieves are robbing Catherine of during the holidays.

“Is it sad to see people like this doing things like this on a special day like Christmas?” I don’t know, it’s sad,” Maria said.

Paul says he spoke to police on Tuesday, but they have yet to provide an official report.

To the suspects who stole her surprise gift, Katherine had a simple message: “Give it back to me.”

Meanwhile, on Calle Vejar in Moreno Valley, surveillance video of Alexandra Falcon captured suspects breaking into her home on Friday.

“A group of guys were on my lawn and my neighbor’s lawn and they unplugged the extension cord on two of our inflatables,” Falcon told KTLA.

A woman’s surveillance cameras captured at least two people stealing large, colorful Christmas decorations from homes on her street.

“We had a single reindeer, like Rudolph the reindeer, and then we had Santa,” Falcon said.

Video of Falcon and her neighbor across the street shows a man approaching the house and then walking away.

A few minutes later he returns to make off with the festive inflatables from her front lawn and calmly leaves.

“I was shocked,” Falcon said. “I thought, ‘This can’t be real.’

Her neighbor’s surveillance video shows the two suspects walking away with their hands full of stolen jewelry.

Another neighbor who was also a victim said the theft upset her, especially since it happened during the holiday season.

Weaver’s family has only been living on the street for five months and recently moved to the area.

Weaver said decorating for the holidays with her 10-month-old son meant a lot to her, and she also bought a giant LED inflatable with Santa and a reindeer on it.

After the thieves made off with her inflatable boat, Weaver decided to move the eight-foot holiday light pole to her garage for safety.

“It just sucks,” she said. “Buy yourself things. Let people celebrate Christmas and show the Christmas spirit in their own way.”

Neighbors also expressed concern about targeted thefts.

“People work hard for these things,” Weaver said. “They’re not cheap.”

Falcon has since purchased a new lawn ornament and said she won’t let thieves ruin her holiday spirit.

“We will get through this,” Falcon said. – We’re going to put another one up.

The victims said they monitored resale sites to see if the suspects would try to sell the stolen jewelry.