Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com


Brighton City Police are investigating the theft of holiday decorations from three separate locations in the city.

So far, police have no suspects in custody. City Police Chief Brent Pirochta says the thieves will be prosecuted if police find out their identities.

One of the victims was Caitlin Perry Dial, who lives at the corner of Nelson and Church streets. She says that Wednesday night her dog started barking, so she got up and noticed that the timer for her outdoor decorative lights was unplugged. She went outside, looked around, didn’t see any suspicious activity and plugged the timer back in. She then went to bed and when she got up at 5:30 a.m., discovered that the lights were out and a 12-foot inflatable snowman, lighted candy canes, a lightup Narwhal and a blow-up Nutcracker display had all been stolen.

Pirochta tells WHMI that the thefts have occurred in scattered locations in the city. He theorizes that all three cases are linked, but has no suspects at this time. The chief is also not ready to blame the thefts on juveniles, saying it could be anybody.

Pirochta reminds residents who have a ring camera to, “Point it at areas where we can use them as an evidentiary or prosecutorial tool.” Pirochta warns that police have three patrol cars out overnight every night, and will be extra vigilant in the coming days in looking for any further holiday decoration thievery. Although the law is a little unclear about such cases, generally, if it’s a case of simple larceny, it is punishable by a $500 fine and/or a maximum of 90 days in jail.

Perry-Dial says that people in the community have been extremely kind and generous and have replaced her stolen decorations. She posted on Facebook that, "Generous and very kind friends chipped in and got (the) family new decorations to replace the ones that were stolen."