Santa Claus has a lot of chores before heading out on Christmas Eve to deliver gifts to all the good little girls and boys, but he made time Thursday to tackle something else — a car-theft suspect.
Riverside police on Thursday, Dec. 10, were conducting a “holiday enforcement” operation at the Canyon Springs shopping center off Day Street, arresting shoplifters including one woman they said pushed a cart full of stolen merchandise out the door of the Target store and a man believed by police to be involved in numerous thefts from Targets in the region.
Among the detectives and officers participating were one whose cheeks were like roses and his nose like a cherry, whose belly shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly. You know the guy.
And he was assisted by one of Santa’s elves, also a police officer.
As officers were wrapping up their operation, they were alerted to three suspicious men casing cars in the parking lot.
“One of the undercover detectives spotted these three men as they were in the act of stealing an older white Honda CR-V,” said Officer Ryan Railsback, a Police Department spokesman. “Two of the men saw the detective and ran off.”
One suspect was quickly apprehended.
“What the … is going on?” the suspect is heard saying in a video, as Officer Elf, wearing a green jacket, red pants, red-and-white-striped socks and a red stocking cap held the man at gunpoint. That man, who denied attempting to steal the car, was later released.
The second suspect was confronted by two officers and in the video, is shown flailing his arms as police tried to arrest him. Santa Cop sprinted over as another officer shouted, “Get him, Santa!”
Santa Cop grabbed the man from behind and body-slammed him to the ground.
He was arrested on suspicion of possession of illegal drugs and resisting arrest, police said.
The third suspect drove away in the Honda, the tires squealing.
The stolen Honda was found abandoned nearby and the suspect driver was not located, Railsback said, adding, “But detectives have him identified and will be making an arrest for car theft in the future.”