Anti-Santa? Man Breaks Into Detroit Daycare To Steal Children’s Toys And Milk

CCTV footage caught an unidentified man breaking into a children’s learning center in Detroit on two separate occasions to steal children’s toys, clothes, and various supplies. He was first spotted by a mother dropping off her child at 2Day’s Child Learning Center and has since been filmed doing the opposite of what children expect from Santa Claus this holiday season.

According to the Mirror, the thief gained access to the learning center between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Saturday by breaking a window. Surveillance video shows the hooded thief going from room to room, rummaging through multiple storage areas in the children’s nursery, taking everything from cleaning materials and food to children’s toys and coats.

Antoinette Florence, the owner of 2Day’s Child Learning Center, spoke to Fox2 news about the theft, saying that the worst part was the fact that the man took children’s toys, of all things, from the learning center.

“It’s not so much what he took from the center, but what he took from the children that bothered me the most,” Florence said. “The parent is the one who noticed the guy was in the alley with the daycare’s items, and she called police.”

It appeared that the robber was simply stealing everything he could get his hands on, because he even grabbed the daycare’s microwave and an easel. So while stealing children’s toys may appear to be a particularly insidious act, it seems that the thief was not discerning between one piece of stolen property and another.

Florence recalled her reaction when she first realized that somebody would dare to take children’s toys away from them.

“Oh my God,” she said. “Is this for real? Who would break into a daycare?”

After the first encounter with the thief, Florence shut down the nursery to clean up the building, which had been ransacked. In the middle of the shutdown, Antoinette looked at the CCTV feed of the daycare and saw the same thief stealing even more children’s toys. The bold robber had come back for more less than a day after his first break-in.

“Twelve hours later, he comes back. He gets in fridge, drinks milk, loads up everything we have in kitchen.”

Thief breaks into Detroit daycare twice Fox 2 Detroit He's been caught on camera stealing… https://t.co/My1R8cotb3 #Detroit #Michigan

— Detroit Michigan (@DetroitMichiga) November 17, 2015

During the thief’s second break in, he was caught entering the daycare kitchen, putting a cigarette into his mouth, stealing a bottle of soda, some boxes of cereal, and other food.

Police are currently investigating the daycare burglary, and the culprit has still not been arrested for taking the children’s toys.

“We need him to be caught,” Florence insisted.

The daycare owner has released video footage of the man stealing the children’s toys to the internet in the hopes that it will help bring the thief to justice.

The nursery is having its security measures reviewed and re-evaluated to see if there’s a way to prevent the thief from coming back to take more children’s toys.

To watch the local news report about the anti-Santa Claus thief, watch the video below.

What would you do if you found out a burglar was taking children’s toys and clothes away from your loved ones this holiday season?

And if you’re looking for a quirky gift idea this Christmas, pop star Katy Perry recently launched her own line of holiday-themed pajama onesies, featuring Santa Claus, ginger bread men, and Frosty the Snowman. You can check them out here, along with snippets of her original Christmas song “Everyday Is A Holiday.”

[Image via Shutterstock]