The Thieves Who Stole Easter: Easter Eggs Meant For Child With Down Syndrome Stolen From Front Lawn [Video]

Residents of a city in California were outraged this past Easter to learn that a pair of middle aged thieves, and their kids, had stolen Easter eggs meant for a toddler with Down Syndrome.

Janet and Michael Ford were preparing to spend the Easter holiday with their son, Gabriel. Their idea involved having a trusted neighbor of theirs lay out Easter eggs throughout the front lawn while the couple and their son were at church.

Gabriel Ford was born with Down syndrome. He was also born with a condition known as “syndactyly.”

In January, Gabriel underwent surgery to have his fingers separated and was in casts up to his armpits for roughly six weeks. When the casts were finally removed, the family found a creative way to go about helping the boy with his physical therapy.

They worked with him in the time leading up to Easter, teaching him how to pick up Easter eggs and having him place them in a bucket. The activity was teaching him how to walk, and how to use his newly separated fingers.

It was the first Easter he was old enough to celebrate with his parents, and it looked like the holiday was going to be one that aided him in healing.

Then, the thieves appeared.

When the Fords returned home from Easter church services, they were shocked to learn that someone had stolen all the Easter eggs meant for Gabriel.

“My husband was mad but I thought, no, it’s Easter. Easter is about forgiveness,” Janet told the LA Times.

Instead of dwelling on the idea that some thieves would take time out of their day to destroy a game created for a toddler, the family decided to move on to other activities. They spent the rest of their Easter day having a picnic, taking part in some archery-based games and otherwise enjoying each other’s company.

The thieves had returned while they were out and had set to work stealing the rest of their Easter decorations: empty eggs hanging from their trees.

Just a few weeks before the Easter incident, Michael Ford had installed security cameras on his property. As a result, the entire thing was caught on video, allowing the Ford family to see what happened to the Easter plans they’d made.

The family watched as a middle aged couple started to walk by their lawn. The woman of the couple paused and walked over to take only one of the eggs from the lawn.

If it had ended there, it wouldn’t have been an issue, but she decided one wasn’t enough and cleared the Easter eggs out of approximately half the lawn.

The couple then left.

With half the lawn still filled with eggs, the Fords kept watching to see what happened to the rest of them. As it turned out, the woman returned with two kids and the three thieves proceeded to clear out the rest of the Easter eggs.

“I just couldn’t believe what was happening,” Michael Ford told Fox 5.

Later in the video, it’s seen that the thieves return one more time to go deeper into the yard in order to steal the empty Easter eggs dangling from the tree branches as well.

“You can see that the woman knows exactly what she’s doing,” Michael said. “When a car goes by, she jumps off the lawn and then she’s clear and gets right back to work.”

Members of the city were so outraged by the thieves who stole Easter, that they arranged a community-wide Easter egg hunt for little Gabriel. According to NBC, authorities from the Chula Vista police and fire departments also stepped in to deliver Easter eggs and sidewalk chalk to the child, including a letter that read, “Happy Easter from your neighborhood Easter bunnies. 28 eggs total.”

Authorities do know who the Easter thieves are, but are having trouble communicating with them due to a language barrier. With a translator’s aid, they will decide whether or not to charge them with petty theft.

[ Photo by sakepaint ]