Surveillance video shows a holiday Grinch stealing a box of donations for Make a Wish Canada from outside a Barrie home.
The man can be seen scoping out the home on Violet Street on Dec. 10, at around 3 a.m. He returns about 40 minutes later, dismantles the box from a tree and flees the scene.
“Very disappointed. It bothered me more than I thought it would, you know, to think that someone could come here and just steal this,” says Dino Sangiuliano. “It was on with aircraft cable. It was very secure.”
Sangiuliano has been collecting donations this way for three years. The box is part of a 30,000-light Christmas display at his home.
He has since sent the video to Barrie police in the hopes of catching the culprit.
“Thankfully this homeowner did have video surveillance. We are going to use it and we're not going to stop until we find this scrooge,” says Barrie police Const. Sarah Bamford.
Sangiuliano’s neighbours are shocked that someone would steal the charitable box.
“That's sickening. That’s pretty disappointing that people would do such a scummy thing,” says Kyle Durocher.
Sangiuliano says he won't have time to put up a new box before Christmas, but plans to collect donations again next year.
In the meantime, he’s encouraging people to make a donation directly to Make a Wish.
