Osseo police pitch in to help family after teens steal Grinch inflatable from their yard
By Nick Lunemann
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MINNESOTA (WCCO) — A Minnesota family whose inflatable Grinch was swiped from their front yard is ending the week with a bigger, brighter Grinch and a new story to tell about their local police.
AJ Mansour says his family are “big Grinch people.” They go to the Grinch musical at Children’s Theatre Company each year and have Grinch sweatshirts and stuffed animals, so putting a Grinch inflatable in their Osseo front yard was a natural fit. The decoration had been part of their holiday display for three or four years.
Friday night, the family was upstairs when they heard a loud bang and tires squeal. At first, Mansour’s wife thought there had been a crash in the street. When he went outside to check, the cars were fine, but their Grinch was gone.
Video from the family’s Ring camera showed a white sedan pulling up to the house. A teenager ran into the yard, bear-hugged the inflatable, ripped it from the power cord and stakes, then sprinted back to the car as it sped away.
Osseo police were already in the area on an unrelated call of someone riding on the roof or hood of a vehicle. Lt. Todd Kintzi says officers stopped a white sedan and found four juveniles inside. While they were interviewing the teens, a new call went out about a stolen yard ornament a few blocks away.
Officers soon realized it was the same car. They were able to recover the Grinch from the vehicle, but it had been damaged and deflated. Police contacted the teens’ parents, impounded the vehicle for other violations and issued citations to the driver, but did not pursue theft charges.
Instead, Kintzi says the officers decided to pool their own money and quietly buy the family a replacement.
The next night, while the Mansours were out to dinner, their Ring camera pinged again. This time, it was Osseo officers at the door with a brand new Grinch inflatable for the couple’s two sons.
Mansour calls the new version an upgrade. It stands about a foot taller than the original, lights up at night and includes Max, the Grinch’s dog, as part of the display.
The family says the gesture turned a frustrating moment into a lesson they can share with their kids about grace, consequences and kindness. Mansour likes to point back to the story’s original source material — where the Grinch’s heart “grows three sizes” — and hopes the teens involved and others who see the story take that to heart.
Kintzi says the act fits Osseo’s identity as a small city that still feels like a small town, even in the middle of the metro. The department has 13 sworn officers covering about a square mile and prides itself on knowing many of the residents they serve.
Mansour says Osseo police did not have to replace a damaged lawn ornament, but the fact that they did is what he and his family will remember each Christmas when they plug in their Grinch and watch it rise.
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