NEW WILMINGTON —
New Wilmington police have issued an APB for Frankenstein — or at least his head and torso.
The top half of Frankenstein and a red-eyed hanging clown, wearing a red/blue dress, were taken from a Halloween display in the yard at 350 E. Neshannock Ave. The theft was reported about 10 a.m. Sunday.
Wendy Welsh said she had created a graveyard scene bathed in red lights with the 5-foot-tall monster at the center and the 4- to 5-foot clown hanging nearby.
She just put the display out over the weekend and the theft, she told police, occurred after 11 p.m. Saturday.
“I was concerned that the life-size, talking Frankenstein might blow away, so I anchored him pretty well,” Welsh said. “Whoever took him was only able to rip off the top half. But they took the clown.”
Welsh said she doesn’t mind people taking pictures of her display or even going into her yard to pose for pictures. “But they didn’t have to take my things.”
A single mom, Welsh said she doesn’t have the money to replace her monsters, which set her back about $200.
“I put the display out because my kids — ages 6, 9, and 11 — enjoy it. So do my neighbors,” she said. “I try to add to it every year but I can’t keep replacing the big pieces. Why couldn’t they have taken the spiders from the windows? They aren’t near as expensive to replace.”
Welsh said she believes the perpetrators are college students.
“They’re adults. They should know better,” she said. “Why would they do this and ruin the spirit of Halloween?”
This is not the first time Welsh has been victimized.
In December, a 6-foot-tall Santa was taken from her front yard.
“We recovered Santa, but he had sustained serious injuries,” New Wilmington Police Chief Carmen Piccirillo said.
The Santa was found in the back of a pickup truck in the Russell Hall parking lot on Westminster College campus. It was scratched up and its mechanical arm was broken, according to officer Randy Russo.
All this has left Welsh frustrated.
“I’ve actually been hit three times,” she said. In addition to the Halloween pieces and Santa Claus, she said, “someone took a wallet from my car. You would think that New Wilmington is a safe place to live, but you’d be wrong.”
Welsh said she plans to place posters in the middle of her display, asking that the Halloween pieces be returned.
She said she also plans to do another Christmas display in December.
“But I’m planning on taking my Santa inside every night. I don’t believe that he’ll be safe.”
New Wilmington police are encouraging anyone with information on the thefts to contact them at (724) 946-8111.
(Email: nlowry@ncnewsonline.com)
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New Wilmington police searching for Frankenstein
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