Stolen Christmas displays recovered, returned by police
UPDATE: Here are the photos of the two suspects after their first court appearance Tuesday. They are scheduled to return to court in January.
At least the Grinch had a change of heart and returned the Christmas items he stole, but two people in Colorado Springs are accused of not doing that.
Police arrested Carrie Lewallan, 42, and her husband, Jeremy Lewallan, 18, on suspicion of felony theft in the stealing of Christmas decorations from at least 30 homes.
Most of the decorations were taken from the neighborhood of the suspects’ home in the 4400 block of Anjelina Circle North, near the intersection Academy and Astrozon boulevards, police said.
However, police said some of the stolen displays came from several miles away, and that victims began noticing the thefts shortly after Thanksgiving.
“We got information that a witness saw the suspects slowly driving around the neighborhood,” said Officer Anthony Voltz. “We traced that to the home and found the suspects putting the decorations up. Then we got a search warrant to seize the decorations from the front and back of the home.”
Voltz said police had previously arrested Jeremy Lewallan on suspicion of stealing Halloween decorations.
Arthur and Phyllis Hilton, who live across the street from the Lewallans, said they’d long been suspicious of the suspects.
“Too many pieces came in for a family that didn’t have any visible income to buy,” Phyllis Hilton said.
The Hiltons said their decorations weren’t stolen.
Police arrested the suspects Friday and immediately began recovering the decorations and contacting victims who filed reports. Victims collected their decorations at the Sand Creek police substation.
Denise Hendricks was among the victims. Two of her star-shaped Christmas lights disappeared Thursday.
“They were my mom’s and she passed away two years ago,” she said. “It’s a blessing to have them back because they were part of her. I think I’ll just enjoy them from inside my home from now on.”
Several victims said they would immediately place their decorations outside their homes and not worry about them being stolen again.
Jennifer Wakely, another victim, explained how she felt about the situation.
“We’ve had a hard year, and I try to get into the Christmas spirit, and it’s really hard,” she said. “But I wanted to decorate anyway and try to have a good Christmas, and then they stole it, so it just makes you feel, why bother? But now I feel better, so this is a good Christmas.”
Call police at 719-444-7000 if you have missing Christmas decorations.
