Vandals deflate holiday decorations in north Phoenix; suspects sought

Holiday vandalism leaves north Phoenix neighborhood feeling deflated

Video taken by a home surveillance camera shows two suspects jumping out of a van and destroying inflatable holiday decorations by slashing them. Dozens of inflatables were damaged as a result. FOX 10's Stephanie Bennett reports.

PHOENIX - With just days to go before Christmas, dozens of inflatable holiday decorations were slashed in North Phoenix.

The acts of vandalism reportedly happened in a neighborhood located near Cave Creek and Deer Valley Roads, and dozens of homes in the area were targeted.

Now, neighbors and police are looking for the suspects.

Surveillance video captures what happened

"When we were sleeping, they just cut this," said Shriya Patel. "I didn’t like it when I saw it, and I started crying."

Areas residents woke up on the morning of Dec. 20 were greeted by slashed Santa, sunken snowmen and popped polar bears. The incidents were captured by home surveillance cameras, with video showing two men going door to door, jumping out of a van and destroying the decorations.

"Throughout the day, it was just video after video after video of other people not just in our neighborhood, but two miles away. Three miles away. Same thing was happening to them," said an area resident, identified only as ‘Kevin.’

At around 1:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., video captures a white van going door to door, with the two men slashing the inflatables with what could be a box cutter or knife.

"Our entire neighborhood works hard to decorate these streets, and to make children like her happy walking up and down the sidewalks everyday and enjoying those decorations, and I think it’s unfortunate that somebody would think that a prank like that would be funny to do, not just our street, but to the entire neighborhoods all around us," said Sagar Patel.

Area residents say it is a knock on Christmas joy, confidence, and checkbooks.

"People are affected mentally, like my children," said Sagar. "They are affected mentally by this."

"Inflatables aren’t getting any cheaper," said Kevin. "So if you figure: 50 inflatables on a block, and they all average about $50 apiece, that’s $2,500, and one may think it’s kinda silly, but that’s a lot of money for people that they are spending just to decorate their homes."