Santa-Nappers Nab Another Nick; Reindeer Recovered

When Sylvia Myhre awoke to a rustling in her front yard early Sunday, she thought it was the neighbors having a noisy party.

Instead, she peered out her window about 2:20 a.m. and discovered she was the victim of the second reported Santa-napping in as many weeks in the Spokane Valley.

Gone was her 3-foot Santa, his sleigh and two strings of lights. A team of five reindeer, which the thieves apparently discarded, was found on Myhre’s lawn at 16th and Evergreen, next to footprints in the new-fallen snow.

Myhre’s Santa was not the only Christmas display taken over the weekend. More than a dozen other people reported their decorations stolen or damaged by vandals over the weekend, said sheriff’s Sgt. Gary Smith.

It was also not the only Santa taken this year. A 5-foot Santa was snagged from a yard in the 8600 block of East Broadway about two weeks ago. That red-suited figurine is still missing.

But overall, Smith said, the number of holiday-related crimes has been about average.

“Most of the times they probably rip (decorations) off to use it themselves,” said Smith, who heads the Sheriff’s Department property crime unit.

Lack of distinguishing marks on store-bought decorations leaves deputies with little chance of recovering them. Smith said decorations that are homemade offer a better chance of being returned because of the personal touch.

Aside from marking decorations, tightly fixing displays to your house or yard and keeping an eye on them, little can be done to prevent holiday hoodlums from striking.

“That’s one of the real difficult things because you’ve got all that stuff out there in the front yard,” Smith said. “Unless someone is watching them all the time (thieves think) it’s kind of fair game.”

Myhre’s display was fastened to a ledge in front of her house with wire and tape. In their haste to free the rosy-cheeked man, thieves broke off Santa’s hand.

“I picked it up and laid it on the ledge in case they want it,” Myhre quipped.

Myhre has set up the Santa display every Christmas for 40 years. This year was the first that she put it out in her front yard. Previously she had set up Santa and his team in her back yard or in her living room.

“We’re going to take the rest of (our display) down and be done with it this year,” Myhre said.

, DataTimes