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Oregon Mom Allegedly Forced Child To Steal Packages From Neighbors

By Chelsea Hoffman
Published on: 03:05 PST, Dec 8, 2015

An Oregon mom is accused of being a Grinch after authorities say she forced her nine-year-old daughter to steal packages off the porches of their neighbors. Crime Feed reports that Mary Palmer-Correa has been arrested on charges of second-degree theft associated with accusations that she’s been ripping off her neighbors.

Fox 8 News reports that a witness noticed the accused Grinch in the act and contacted authorities to report that they believed someone was stealing packages in their neighborhood. The witness used their phone to take photos of the incident and gave it to police. The photo seemed to identify 49-year-old Palmer-Correa and her nine-year-old daughter in the crimes.

Authorities were able to determine that the Oregon mom had been forcing her daughter to ride around in her car while she targeted homes which had packages on their front porches. She would allegedly instruct her nine-year-old child to get out of the car and retrieve the packages while she drove.

Upon the arrest of Mary Palmer-Correa, authorities with the Milwaukie Police Department discovered numerous items which matched the descriptions of goods allegedly stolen from various neighbors in the area. Some of the items have been returned to the neighbors, but others remain as evidence against the Oregon mom.

This isn’t the first time someone’s been caught stealing packages around the holiday season. Last year in Boston, someone was reportedly stealing packages from the porches of unsuspecting people during the Christmas season. The thief reportedly stole holiday cards and even a 100-lb. dresser from one neighborhood, pretty much destroying the holidays of the victims. Also last year, a 22-year-old Maryland man was accused of stealing Christmas packages in association with over 40 different incidents. He was dubbed by authorities in Arlington as A Grinch who tried to steal Christmas from multiple families.

Lt. Kip Malcom with the Arlington PD shared his sentiments on the arrest of the alleged thief.

“This is the Grinch that tried to steal Christmas. He would see packages, pick them up and then go to a discreet location and pick through the packages and take what he wanted. Whatever he didn’t want, he’d leave it.”

Incidents like these are common all-year-round, but the fact that families across the country are waiting for holiday gifts makes these crimes all the more heartbreaking. For some families, the packages they’ve ordered are the only gifts they can afford to give their family, so to steal those packages during this season is a truly despicable crime.

In the case of the Oregon mom accused of forcing her child to help her, she is still being held in jail. The amount of bond posted for her release has not been clarified in any media reports, so it’s not known if her bail has been set yet. Meanwhile, authorities haven’t touched upon whether or not her nine-year-old daughter has been removed from her custody in light of these alleged crimes.

Photo: Milwaukie Police Department mugshot

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