'Grinch-like' mom allegedly hides her kids' Christmas presents, tells police and media they had been stolen



A woman in Florida has been arrested after she allegedly hid the Christmas presents she had purchased for her kids and then reported to police and the media that they had been stolen.

On November 19, Shana Anica Hudson, 39, contacted authorities to say that several items, including her kids' Christmas presents, had been stolen from her residence in Lehigh Acres, Florida, about 15 miles east of Fort Myers. Hudson also took her story to the local media.

"I wanted my kids to have a decent Christmas, but now they’re not gonna have a Christmas at all because some thief came and stole our s**t," Hudson told one news outlet. She then turned to the camera and begged the alleged thief to fess up and make restitution: "Turn yourself in and bring us back our stuff so me and my kids can have a good Christmas."

Moved by the woman's story, detectives looking into the alleged burglary tapped into some funds from the Lee County Sheriff's Office's "Shop with a Cop" event to try and help her out. Together with a local American Legion Auxiliary Unit, the detectives managed "to surprise the mother with new gifts," the sheriff's office claimed.

However, a tip made to Crime Stoppers led to what the sheriff's office called a "Grinch-like turn of events," as investigators soon began to suspect that Hudson had fabricated the story. After digging further, they reportedly found the missing presents safely tucked away at a home belonging to a member of Hudson's family.

On the night of December 4, Hudson was arrested and charged with one felony count of filing a false police report, and members of the sheriff's office had some fun making the arrest and posting about it to Facebook. "Riiiing Riiiing Hey Shana, Who-ville Called, they want their Grinch back," opened the sheriff's office's Facebook post about the arrest. During a video included in the post, one person dressed up as the Grinch prances about as Hudson is led away to jail, a facility humorously nicknamed the Marceno Motel after Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno.

"Hudson was transported to the Marceno Motel for her charge where this Grinch will have plenty of time to think twice about stealing Christmas," the post said, adding hashtags #YoureAMeanOne and #StealingChristmasBackfired.


"This pathetic behavior is unacceptable, especially given the circumstances this holiday season," added Sheriff Marceno. "This woman took advantage of the system and is now paying the price for her selfish choices."

Law&Crime reported that Hudson has five dependents and has retained a public defender. She has already bonded out of custody and is scheduled to appear in court again the day after Christmas.

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'Grinch' holds sign reading 'Santa is fake, Jesus is real' outside elementary school. One dad doesn't like that very much.



There was a bit of a tussle down in Whoville — okay, okay, Amarillo, Texas — when a man dressed as the Grinch showed up last week in front of Sleepy Hollow Elementary School holding a sign that read, "Santa is fake, Jesus is real."

The stunt coincided with a morning drop-off, which upset some parents, KVII-TV reported.

The station said one dad actually grabbed the sign and threw it on the ground.

The resulting tussle between the dad and David Grisham — the man dressed as the Grinch — was caught on video:

Parent Attacks the Grinch Outside Elementary School youtube.com

KVII said police were called to the school, but they did not arrest Grisham — in fact, the department told the station that he was "lawfully on the sidewalk" and wasn't breaking any laws.

When KVII asked Grisham if he understood why parents would be upset, he replied that "they’re upset because they’re prideful and don’t want to admit that lying to their child is wrong in spite of what God’s word says. They’re more concerned with the traditions of men rather than the truth. And they double down on the lie because of pride, and they are angry because they want to blame the person telling the truth than the one who told the lie that prompted the truth to expose the lie."

The station added that Grisham was asked why he would choose to ruin the "magic" of Christmas for kids. He replied, "I’m not concerned about the 'magic' of Christmas but the MIRACLE of Christmas in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ," KVII said.

Another parent told the station that Grisham "shouldn't be pushing his agenda any people's kids."

Sleepy Hollow Principal Kelsey Williams noted to KVII that Grisham was "unwanted and uninvited."

"I'm saddened by the fact that some of our kiddos and families were frightened because of him," Williams told the station.

Police added to People magazine that Grisham is "a self-proclaimed street preacher and known to local law enforcement. He has been around for many years, preaching on the streets. We do get called about him from citizens occasionally."

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