The criminal was caught in the act nibbling on wires by Sea Girt Police Department
In a town in New Jersey, USA it's not the Grinch trying to steal Christmas but a hungry, mischievous squirrel. And after a baffling search, police have managed to catch the culprit red-handed.
The borough of Sea Girt is popular for its annual tree lighting ceremony but this year's festivities were threatened after officials found the wires of Christmas lights severed by what they assumed were Christmas-hating vandals. With just a day to go for the lighting ceremony, officials brought in the reinforcements and rushed to repair the sabotaged wires. This time, they also decided to keep a close eye on the tree to catch the suspect.
The tree lighting ceremony went on with no hiccups and the vandals didn't show up.
But a day later, officials caught the troublemaker in action, trying to cut through the wires again. This time they took photographic proof, that could come in handy for the trial.
On Facebook, the Sea Girt Police Department proudly showed off their impressive detective work that nabbed the suspect.
It was no human but a furry, four-legged squirrel.
Images showed the notorious criminal nibbling on the wires, unaware that law was going to catch up soon. And it did. The squirrel was charged with "criminal mischief" but was released on bail.
But turns out the squirrel could be a repeat offender as cops said they will investigate its ties to previous acorn thefts.
The borough of Sea Girt is popular for its annual tree lighting ceremony but this year's festivities were threatened after officials found the wires of Christmas lights severed by what they assumed were Christmas-hating vandals. With just a day to go for the lighting ceremony, officials brought in the reinforcements and rushed to repair the sabotaged wires. This time, they also decided to keep a close eye on the tree to catch the suspect.
The tree lighting ceremony went on with no hiccups and the vandals didn't show up.
But a day later, officials caught the troublemaker in action, trying to cut through the wires again. This time they took photographic proof, that could come in handy for the trial.
On Facebook, the Sea Girt Police Department proudly showed off their impressive detective work that nabbed the suspect.
It was no human but a furry, four-legged squirrel.
Images showed the notorious criminal nibbling on the wires, unaware that law was going to catch up soon. And it did. The squirrel was charged with "criminal mischief" but was released on bail.
But turns out the squirrel could be a repeat offender as cops said they will investigate its ties to previous acorn thefts.
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