La Mesa Theft Victims Receive Halloween Surprise

LA MESA, Calif. (KGTV) – It was a nightmare before Halloween. Thieves were caught on camera stealing thousands of dollars worth of Halloween decorations from two La Mesa homes.

ABC 10News reporter Michael Chen continued talking to homeowners after they received a special surprise.

Cellphone video shows Emily Perrin’s stunned children looking on at the creepy surprise on Wednesday night.

“Take a look, guys,” Perrin can be heard saying as her children exit the SUV.

“This is so good!” exclaimed her youngest daughter.

The day before, the emotions were completely different.

“This is disgusting. Why? It’s a couple of days until Halloween,” Perrine said. talking to me on Tuesdayafter she and her neighbor were attacked on an El Paso street by thieves caught on video stealing Halloween decorations.

Perrin lost dozens of decorations, including several animatronics. Her three children were devastated, including her 12-year-old son.

“He was upset, he couldn’t believe it, he didn’t want to give out candy,” she said Oct. 29.

But after our story aired, a Claremont Mesa woman reached out to Perrine in response to her post on the Nextdoor app.

“She said her children are older. They were a cool house for Halloween when they were younger, and now they’re all out…and they offered to give me her Halloween decorations. I had no idea how many there were,” Perrin said.

The amount of donation was scary in a good way.

“I told them thank you a million times, I almost cried. I’m so excited to surprise my kids with this,” Perrine said.

In total, dozens of decorations were donated, including eight animatronics.

In a few hours, her three children will be surprised after some decorations are installed.

Perrin believes the most excited, albeit reserved, of her children was her 12-year-old son.

“Michael Myers is cool,” her son said in the cellphone video.

“Did we save Halloween?” – Emily asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

Perrin plans to put up all the Halloween decorations tonight. She hopes the decorations will become part of a new local tradition for future Halloweens.