HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida elementary school teacher ordered gifts for her students, but a Grinch with an eye for crime was caught on camera stealing them right before the holidays.
Speaking with 7News on Wednesday, Maria Castillo said she has never seen the woman who was captured on Ring surveillance video strolling up to the front door of her Hialeah home on Tuesday.
“She gets down like she’s coming to her house to get her package, and then she just leaves,” said Castillo.
The security footage shows the stranger walking away with a package that wasn’t addressed to her.
“It was something that was for my kids, for my students, you know,” said Castillo, “so that kind of makes it – makes me a little bit upset and angry, because it’s for children, you know, it’s not for me.”
Mrs. Castillo, who teaches kindergarten at Comstock Elementary School in Miami, said she wanted to do something nice for her students before Christmas break.
“I was like, ‘Well, I’m just going to get them a little something just to kind of show them that I was thinking about them,'” she said.
So she purchased a small gift for them.
“I ordered these Pop Its and these coloring books,” said Castillo.
They were delivered to her home ahead of their Christmas party.
But the children never received the gifts they were promised, and Castillo’s Ring camera shows why.
“I see the lady, and I’m sitting there in the small group, and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, they’re stealing, they’re stealing your stuff,'” said Castillo.
Now she wants this stranger held accountable.
“She shouldn’t have taken something that doesn’t belong to her. It’s not yours; I teach it to my 5-year-olds,” she said. “They shouldn’t take things that don’t belong to them, so maybe it’s a lesson for her as well.”
For Castillo, it isn’t about the value of the items, but who it was meant for.
“I apologized profusely to them because there was nothing I could do,” she said, “so I told them when they get back from Christmas I will definitely have something for them.”
Castillo said Amazon did refund the stolen items.
She said she will be filing a police report.
If you have any information on this theft, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.
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