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Lawn ornaments are hot property
By JULIANNE WU © St. Petersburg Times, published January 31, 1998 Then, they unceremoniously dumped them in Mike and Jill Davis' front yard in a Seminole subdivision. "We woke up on Sunday morning, and they were all over the place," said Mrs. Davis, a community involvement employee at Bauder Elementary School. "At first, we thought someone was playing a joke on us, but we checked and none of our friends knew anything about it. We've lived in this area for 10 years and nothing like this ever happened before." Three-foot plastic candles, figures of carolers, candy canes, Santas and snowmen were among the items strewn over the Davises' yard, in their bushes and on top of their cars. Since a televised report on the incident Monday, the Davis family has received lots of calls. "We still have about 15 pieces in our garage," Mrs. Davis said. "One man even came all the way over from Tampa to pick up an elf he said was his." Mike Davis said calls came from Lutz and Sarasota, "looking for lost decorations, but we didn't have those items." Not knowing exactly what to do with the decorations, the Davises called the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, which said it would take them, but the figures would be destroyed if they weren't claimed soon. The couple decided to keep them in the garage and contacted a television station instead. "This is still vandalism, plain and simple," Jill Davis said. "And, who knows? Some of these items may mean a lot to their owners." Sgt. Greg Tita of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said the department has "lots of other Christmas decorations that appear to have been stolen. We don't even know where some of this stuff came from." Tita said anyone whose decorations have been stolen this year can call the Sheriff's Property and Evidence Room at 582-6200 and describe the missing items. Seminole area residents who think the Davises might have their decorations can call them at 392-6514. "We hate to see anything stolen," said Mike Davis, who works for a pharmaceutical company. "But, I have a recommendation for anyone with outdoor decorations: at least put your phone number on the bottom."
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EMINOLE -- First, some Grinches stole 41 plastic lawn decorations during the Christmas holidays.
