ST. LOUIS – Video shows a woman stealing Halloween decorations from a south city home, changing clothes, and then coming back for more the same day.
The first incident happened around noon Sunday on Michigan Avenue in the Tower Grove East neighborhood. Rose Thompson’s home surveillance camera captured a woman backing her car up in the middle of the road and then making two trips to her porch in the first visit, stealing items each time and then driving off.
Thompson said she couldn’t believe what she was watching.
“Someone pulls up, clearly likes what they saw, throws it in reverse, comes back and starts shopping like our porch is a HomeGoods,” she said.
During the thief’s first visit, you can see she looks directly into the camera before she starts grabbing Thompson’s property. Thompson says what makes it even more brazen is she and her husband, Drew, were home at the time in their living room with their three dogs on the other side of the front door.
She said once they realized what had happened, the woman was already gone. They thought they’d never see her again.
But three hours later, she was back.
“She changed clothes, put on a hat, came back and had a whole car full of stuff,” Thompson explained. “To the extent that her trunk had to be tied down.”
This time, Thompson was able to get outside and write down the woman’s license plate number before she got away.
“Her coming back is what makes me question her actual sanity,” Thompson said. “We made eye contact. I just said, ‘Are you for real?’”
In all, the woman got away with a fall-themed sign, two plants and a few pumpkins. Thompson estimates the property was worth around $800, with the custom-made sign being easily the most expensive item.
But these homeowners say it’s not about the money.
“What bothers me most is we need to bring humanity back to the community,” Thompson said. “We don’t even care about each other enough to not take things from each other.”
Thompson said she made a police report immediately and has been working with a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department detective.
