BOISE, Idaho — Police have identified the suspected thief that was caught on camera yanking down Christmas lights at a Boise house on Lemhi Street, then running off with them.
However, officials are not releasing his name because he's a minor.
“Why would you try and steal someone's joy and Christmas spirit, it's not okay,” said Julia Holmes, whose Christmas lights were stolen.
The theft happened on Thursday night and Holmes and Monroe Gollaher’s Ring Doorbell captured it.
“I was just so furious at first, I felt so violated. It's trivial, it's just a string of lights but it feels so uncomfortable and you feel not safe in your own home,” Holmes said.
They weren’t the only ones who were hit by the suspected thief. Sara Smith lives a few doors down from Holmes and she noticed some of her decorations went missing.
“I felt sad and violated all day yesterday,” Smith said.
The suspected thief stole her Mickey Mouse and flamingo Christmas decorations. She later saw her neighbor’s post about what happened.
“I watched the video and realized that the thing that he was picking up in the grass was in fact, my Mickey Mouse,” Smith said. “It hurt, it hurt our heart that somebody would do that. It's a Christmas decoration and I know it doesn't cost a lot of money but it's mine.”
Smith later found her flamingo decorations in the street.
Ryan Austin lives about a block away from Smith and he too noticed someone damaged his decorations.
“It blew my mind that someone would go around and mess with the holiday spirit and people’s hard work,” Austin said.
The suspected thief pulled out his inflatables and stole some of his Christmas lights.
“It's unnerving that someone would just go and start destroying things,” Austin said.
They all now have a message for the boy in the video.
“I hope he knows that ruining other people's stuff is just not okay,” Holmes said. “I hope you learn your lesson, I hope you never do this again.”
“Your seemingly small, innocuous, random acts have a bigger effect than you think you do, trespassing and theft is never okay,” Gollaher said.
Boise Police are still investigating. Petit theft charges are possible.
Meantime, the family who posted the video says this hasn't broken their Christmas spirit. It's actually reinforced it because since they shared the video, people have been offering them support, along with extra lights.