This story was published in the print edition of Today’s News-Herald Dec. 23, 2009 but did not make the paper’s Web site. I wanted to share the news.
“Grinch steals mom’s trust. Robber takes Christmas gifts from under family’s tree”

Today's News-Herald Photo: Karen Caporale is pictured Tuesday with the torn packaging that contained a Christmas gift for her son just 12 hours before.
By JAYNE HANSON
TODAY’S NEWS-HERALD
A real-life Grinch entered a Lake Havasu City residence at about 2 a.m. Tuesday and stole presents from beneath the Christmas tree, a wallet and cell phone from the kitchen counter, and the trust a neighborhood mom had in the community.
“I am just flabbergasted, just flabbergasted … I was wrapping gifts at 2 a.m. They (thief) must have been watching me through my window,” said Karen Caporale. The perpetrator took presents that were for her grandchildren and her family, she said.
The crime occurred after someone reportedly entered the residence in the 1800 block of Willow Avenue and stole four presents including a flannel shirt valued at $30, a pair of jeans valued at $30, a department store gift card valued at $200 and a set of lawn darts valued at $10, according to police reports.
Caporale had just finished wrapping one of the gifts in a box with bright red paper. She took a 10-15 minute break from her late night wrapping to switch her laundry. It was then her home was burglarized.
After she discovered the missing gifts, she woke her son and his few overnight guests to help her look around the yard while they waited for police.
The box and ripped red paper were found in a bush in a nearby neighbor’s yard. The jeans within were gone.
The local mom thinks the thief may have entered through an unlocked sliding patio door near the Christmas tree and gathered the gifts from underneath. Next, the thief probably stepped up two steps into the kitchen and took a cell phone and wallet from the countertop, snatched a few recently wrapped gifts from the couch and left through a second sliding patio door.
The personal items that were situated on the kitchen countertop were within 10 feet of a large kennel containing two family dogs, a dachshund and a pug. The dogs made no indication at the time of the intrusion, Caporale said.
There may be a reason for that.
Caporale has made it a point to provide a safe haven for kids in Havasu looking for a little extra love, a meal, a shower, a warm bed or just a safe place to rest. To accomplish such a task, the Caporale’s doors are always open, the fridge is always full and a friendly face or warm motherly hug is just around the corner.
“I provide a safe house and now I don’t know if I can provide a safe house anymore … I feel like I have been raped,” she said.
The neighborhood mom has her suspicions on who may have done this, but has chosen to sign a complaint refusal with Lake Havasu City Police Department. The refusal stops any further investigations into the incident.
“Just that they had the gall to walk in my home while I was awake and take presents from under my tree. If they need them (presents) that bad — it’s Christmas — they can just have them,” she said.
True to Dr. Seuss’ storyline, the real-life Grinch’s attempts to stop Christmas came up a bit short.
Caporale said Christmas at her house is to celebrate the birth of Jesus and to celebrate the friends and family who are such a large part of her life. And that is exactly what she plans to do.
The neighborhood mom will have her yearly holiday bash and open her home to 25-30 family and friends Christmas Eve.
The sheer curtains in her window have been replaced with thicker curtains and the doors will be locked at night in the wake of the burglary, Caporale said.
Unfortunately, the few gifts that were stolen were the bulk of her family’s Christmas, she said. Luckily, a few gifts were in hiding until their presentation Christmas Day.
“The last dollar has been spent on hors d’oeuvres for the open house,” Caporale said. No more money will be spent to replace the gifts, but Christmas is about much more than gifts, she said.
You may contact the reporter at jhanson@havasunews.com.








