'Halloween Grinch' targets Surprise yards

A surprise neighborhood is on high alert tonight after security cameras caught, what residents are calling a real-life Halloween Grinch. Now neighbors are banding together to get their decorations back. Fox and Taylor Wertz has this story. It may not be December yet, but people in this surprise neighborhood say a Halloween Grinch is already on the loose. Security cameras captured what appears to be the same woman targeting multiple yards and taking way more than just lawn ornaments. Neighbors say she's stealing the holiday spirit for entire families. This surprise neighborhood takes pride in decorating for Halloween. We take a lot of, you know, pride and we have a lot of fun with it. But when Sydney Ostrander discovered decorations missing from her yard, security video showed a woman appearing to take them. She went to my neighbor's house first and then ours. And I was like, well, she messed with the wrong person because I'm not going to just let it go. so then I started posting it everywhere. Her posts got the attention of several neighbors who realized their own skeletons and animatronics were also gone. There were just two pieces of rebar where the kids' skeletons were. Summer Haas from El Mirage also reached out after recognizing the Jeep seen in the video was one she noticed in her own neighborhood during the early morning hours. One of the neighbors, when he checked his cameras, he realized that lady had stolen his decorations. Through the power of the internet, the group was able to find the woman's home just five minutes from the surprise neighborhood and found many of their decorations in her yard. While she wasn't there, a family member told them to take whatever was theirs. To take whatever was stolen, take whatever was ours. But many items, some of sentimental value, are still missing. And neighbors say having someone steal their community joy is what hurts most. She invaded our personal space where we felt like we could be safe and at home. Someone has approached your property and taken things. It just feels kind of scary. I just really hope that we get justice here because this is not right. Surprise police tell us they are investigating. Officers have gone out to the suspect's home twice now but have not been able to make contact. Anyone with any information is asked to call police. In Surprise, Taylor Wertz, Fox 10 News.