Doorbell camera captures Christmas thief steal decorations from Warren home

WARREN, Mich. (FOX 2) - December had barely started, and, already a late night Grinch was caught on camera stealing decorations in a Warren neighborhood.

The Christmas spirit is alive and well on Chippewa Street, but at Jason Milner’s house, his display was missing something. A little display of presents that light up and change colors. A home doorbell video explained where they went. 

Milner said just 12 hours after he bought new decorations, someone came and scooped up the lights at around 1 a.m. 

"We spent, I don't know, about $200 on the lights," he said. 

That money was spent for a very special reason; his two-year-old daughter. 

"She was loving the music, the lights and I thought, man, this is going to be cool, we will have people over, let her enjoy the musical show and stuff. It was something new we did this year, and you know you said 12 hours later they're gone," he said.

It was frustrating, to say the least, when they woke up on Sunday to a front yard with no decorations. The footage showed the person grabbing a string of lighted gift boxes, then walking to a white SUV. They then came back for a second set. 

Milner suspects the thief was a minor. 

"About 20 minutes later he tries to take the snow man there, trips a couple of times, and gives up," he said. "It’s even more heartbreaking to see a kid doing it. And what looked like a parent standing there in a car letting him do it. That is the worst thing about it, I think."

He shared his video online to warn neighbors to watch out for this type of activity in the area, and was shocked at the support he got on social media. He said he was not looking for money, just for people to do the right thing. 

FOX 2 did reach out to Warren police. They confirmed they had got a theft report on Sunday, and it had been assigned to a detective. They always welcome tips if anyone knows anything about the incident.