Dec. 27, 2022 When gifts were stolen from two families right before Christmas, police officers in Indiana and California stepped up to play Santa and make sure there were still presents under the tree.
Source Officer.com News
In two separate incidents, police departments in Indiana and California turned a family’s holiday hardship into a moment of Christmas cheer last week.
On Christmas Eve day, South Bend, Indiana, police responded to a breaking and entering report at a home, the department stated in a social media post. When officers arrived at the scene, they found that the family’s gifts had been taken.
The department then contacted the city’s Fraternal Order of Police about the situation, and the organization was able to provide leftover gifts from its Santa’s Elficers program.
“Officers then came back to the residence with several boxes of Christmas presents and food for the family,” the department stated. “This is what serving our community is all about.”
Hundreds of miles away, Riverside police encountered a similar situation. Burglars broke into the apartment of a single mom and her two sons and stole their gifts from under the tree.
After responding to the call, officers worked to collect gifts and money donations from their colleagues, so the family would have something to open Christmas Day. The officers returned to the apartment at 3:30 a.m. Sunday as not-so-stealthy Santas with the collected loot, and that delivery was followed up later by more donated gifts from the city’s fire department.
“We couldn’t be more proud of our officers and dispatchers here at the Riverside Police Department, along with our Riverside Fire Department,” the police department stated in an online statement. “And we promise our detectives will do everything they can to identify and find this criminal scrooge who tried to ruin Christmas in Riverside.”