Burglars Steal Christmas From Pleasant Grove Family
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The Hayes family came home Monday morning from visiting a sick family member to find a nightmare. Thieves had burst into their Pleasant Grove home and stole the gifts from under the tree in broad daylight.
"My children's pictures are plastered all over the Christmas tree. They knew exactly who they were stealing from," said Kamika Hayes. "Everything was wrapped with bows and their names on it. They were stealing from children."
The thieves got away with wrapped Christmas gifts including a Nintendo videogame system, a karaoke machine and a Playstation hand-held video game system.
"We're just heartbroken and said," Hayes said. "We're scared to even stay here."
Hayes and her family were visiting her grandmother – who was recovering from a massive stroke – at the time of the burglary. When the family returned home, they immediately found their door kicked in.
The 31-year-old mother purchased the gifts over the weekend. The thieves, however, didn't stop at what was wrapped. They also stole the family's Plasma television, a laptop, a camcorder and a Nintendo Wii videogame console.
But despite their devastating loss, the true meaning of Christmas continues to fill their hearts.
"I feel sad, but at the same time it was really OK because Christmas is not about the gifts. It's about Jesus," said 11-year-old Kadeja Hayes.
The family said no one witnessed the break-in, but say a neighbor told them he heard a loud pop. However, the neighbor didn't realize it was the sound of a door being kicked in.
The Dallas Police Department asks residents to hide Christmas presents from sight and not to put them under the tree until Christmas Eve or morning.
