Police are searching for a suspect after a thief stole a car in Dedham packed with a 4-year-old's Christmas presents.
The child was visiting her grandmother's house for Christmas, and her father had just finished packing all her presents in the family's car to go home when someone hopped in, taking off with the car and everything in tow.
"You stole from a 4-year-old girl," William Ingram, whose car was stolen, said. "A kid."
Ingram and the child's mother Lauren were forced to explain to their kid that the gifts she had just opened for Christmas were gone, proving to be an emotional task.
"I don't know how to explain to a 4-year-old that someone stole what Santa brought you," Lauren Ingram said.
The special holiday was snatched in what felt like the blink of an eye, with the Ingram family putting in hard work to make it a special one for their daughter.
"Everything my family got for her for Christmas, on top of what we got for her, is gone," Lauren Ingram said.
The father had started the family's Volkswagen Jetta after packing it with all of the unwrapped gifts, and had parked outside his mother-in-law's home to warm the car up before heading back home to Middleborough.
"I walk inside, I come back out, and I'm like, 'Stop playing with me,'" William Ingram said. "I said, 'The car ain't out here, the car's gone.'"
A neighbor told police that the thief spun the car out on Rockland Street in the moment of opportunity, and nearly got into an accident as they darted out and away on Bussey Street.
"People work hard for what's theirs," Lauren Ingram said. "It's not fair for you to strip people out of what belongs to them."
William Ingram had a message for the thief, as police continue to search for the suspect.
"Whoever did it, I hope you sleep good tonight," he said.
Not only did the crook peel away with all of the Ingram family's presents, but also their means of transportation.
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"I have no way to get back and forth to work," Lauren Ingram said. "How am I supposed to do that? I don't know how we're going to get another car, I really don't. I don't know how I'm going to keep my job."
The car that was stolen Thursday afternoon was a white 2008 Volkswagen Jetta, and the family believes that a neighbor's security camera potentially captured the crime in action.
The Dedham Police chief couldn't confirm if investigators have any surveillance footage or suspect information, but did confirm that police are actively investigating.