Los Angeles family asks for return of basketball hoop stolen from their home just days after Christmas
An Arcadia family is asking for the return of a basketball hoop that was outside their home for just a week after Christmas before it was stolen.
They say that the thieves not only took a gift, but also something they hoped would be the start of valuable memories together.
"Our kids came home, and they are like, 'I want to go outside, I want to play with the basketball hoop,'" said Lacy Shaver Nappier. "Then they're like,' We don't have one anymore.'"
She says that she and her husband bought the hoop for their three children for Christmas, intending to get them outside more and create memories together beyond cellphone and tablet screens.
"We really wanted to get a basketball hoop, because basketball is like a staple right there. Everyone loves playing basketball," Shaver-Nappier said.
Security cameras on the family's home showed the moments when the children and their father finished putting the hoop together in their front yard. Days later, it was gone. Footage from a dash camera also captured those moments, when two people take apart the hoop and load it into a car before driving away.
"I thought it was a prank or something, right when I knew," said Zander, one of the couple's children. "I am sad."
He said that the basketball hoop was something he had always wanted and would remember putting together with his dad.
"They just wanted to steal it because my dad did hard work," Zander said.
The family is holding onto hope that whoever took the hoop will do the right thing and return the hoop, which is all they're asking for, no questions asked.
"To see footage of people just casually parked in front and across the street from our house ... just casually taking it apart," Shaver-Nappier said. "That is so disheartening."
CBS Los Angeles has reached out to the Arcadia Police Department for an update on their investigation, which began after the family filed a report. They have not yet responded.