After nearly $40k worth of toys stolen in South LA, community comes together to save Christmas

After a U-Haul loaded with nearly $40,000 worth of toys was taken from outside of a South Los Angeles home, it appeared that a giveaway slated for late Saturday wouldn't happen. One Chargers linebacker and the rest of his community had something else to say about that, coming through with hundreds of toys just in the nick of time. 

Surveillance footage shows the moments that the truck was taken from outside of Eugene Henley's Windsor Park home early Saturday morning. They say that all of the gifts originally on the truck were donated or purchased by the Henley family, the Chargers or private parties. 

"To think that somebody was stealing a bunch of toys, stealing Christmas, that's kinda crazy," Henley, who helps run his family's nonprofit organization called Developing Options, said. 

It was then that they thought their 20-year tradition of gifting the toys to Crenshaw children. would have to come to a disappointing end. 

As Henley was speaking with KCAL News on Saturday evening, truckload after truckload of new toys suddenly appeared outside of their home. 

"Damn near Christmas miracle, you know what I'm saying, here in South Central!" said one man. 

After hearing about the tragedy, the community gathered together to make a new series of donations to keep the holiday spirit alive, thanks in large part to city leaders and the Los Angeles Fire Department, who run their own toy drive. 

"This is a great save," said Henley. "This is a great save by the community, cause we didn't have no toys. And I'm just so happy."

"At one point there was a lack of hope," said Daiyan Henley, a Crenshaw native who is in the midst of a breakout campaign with the Bolts. "But, you got certain people in this community that won't go for it and I think that just shows the strength within. And that's what you got right now, a community that rallied back and made it happen."

They're still hopeful that the person who took the truck can come forward and return the stolen gifts.