Parents Caught On Camera Taking More Than Their Fair Share Of Halloween Candy On Staten Island
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- More tricks than treats this Halloween in one Staten Island neighborhood as people depending on the honesty of others had their candy stolen.
The candy was left out by residents who couldn't be home, but still wanted to give to the trick-or-treaters. But their generosity was taken advantage of, and kids weren't the sole culprits.
As CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported, the video starts off sweet as a young girl in a "Frozen" Elsa costume trick-or-treats, but everything goes sour when the grown women she's with takes off with two huge bins of candy and chips.
"They're horrible people. That's not right," said Holly Jones.
Jones and her husband wanted to take their 8-year-old son trick-or-treating, but still wanted to leave goodies for the neighborhood kids. So they left the treats on the front porch in good faith, Sanchez reported.
Pictures of the bins that Jones put out show a sign asking children to "Save some for others."
As part of the Teal Project, Jones also filled a bowl with toys for children with allergies. Those were taken too.
"I was very heartbroken. My son was wondering why somebody would do something like this," Jones said. "And I just said there are bad people in the world."
James Smith, on Staten Island's Wilson Avenue, did the same thing, but a camera caught a woman taking off with his entire bowl of candy.
Video from Nathan Brown's home in San Diego has gone viral. A mother dressed in a bunny costume is caught encouraging the children she's with to clear out an entire unmanned table filled with full-sized candy bars.
"And then she comes over and she starts grabbing them all, she starts looking around, and it was shocking," Brown said. "She made off with like 20 or 30 candy bars."
"That young kid now is gonna think anything she sees in the street is hers to take," said Steve Parone, of Staten Island.
"It's not about the candy. It's about what you're showing to a child that's acceptable, and we wonder why society is the way it is. You need to set a better example," Jones said.
A lesson some adults still have to learn.
Jones said she filed a police report, but authorities have not yet identified the woman in the video.
