A Spring Valley woman says she’s heartbroken and angry after thieves — including children — were caught on camera stealing expensive Halloween decorations from her front yard earlier this month.

Cindy Mata, who transforms her yard every October with elaborate animatronic figures, said she does it to bring joy to her neighborhood.
“When we hear everyone’s reactions from inside, we laugh too — it’s a lot of fun, even the dogs bark. It’s just really nice,” Mata said.

But shortly after midnight on October 18, security cameras recorded a man and two children, believed to be between 8 and 10 years old, taking photos next to her animatronic “Bride of Chucky.” Moments later, the young girl grabbed the doll and ran off with it.

“When I reviewed the footage, I noticed the adult signaling from the corner, like telling them, ‘Hurry, grab it,’” Mata said. “It’s sad because you’d think a parent would take their kids to enjoy the decorations, not to steal them.”

Two days later, another camera captured a thief stealing her “Dark Princess” figure around 3:30 a.m.

“It was really well secured — he almost gave up,” she said. “I wish he had.”

Each animatronic figure costs around $400. Mata said she was able to replace the “Bride of Chucky” after finding one on sale, but hasn’t been able to replace the “Dark Princess,” which is currently sold out and listed for about $400 on eBay.

After the thefts, she decided to move the decorations farther from the sidewalk and reinforce them to prevent future incidents.

“If that’s the life they choose, don’t involve your kids,” she warned. “It’s not a good example. Why teach them that this is okay?”

Mata reported the thefts to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, which is investigating to identify those responsible.

with information from: fox5sandiego