A Florida woman has been charged after she was caught lying about her kids’ Christmas gifts being stolen from her home.
Shana Hudson, a 39-year-old mother-of-five, was charged in Lee County with one count of making a false police report.
Hudson Claimed Someone Broke into Her House and Stole the Gifts
Hudson originally claimed that someone broke into her Lehigh Acres home in November and stole all of the $2,000 worth of Christmas gifts she just bought her children.
“The report made to deputies claimed property, to include recently purchased Christmas gifts were stolen from inside her home, leaving her kids without gifts this holiday season,” the Lee County Sheriff’s Office says.
Hudson said at the time that her children love opening the windows at night and burglars may have crawled through an unsecured window to steal the gifts.
Stolen Gifts were Hidden at Family Member’s House
In an interview with local news outlet NBC2, Hudson even pleaded with the alleged thief to “turn yourself in and bring us back our stuff so me and my kids can have a good Christmas.”
Watch the interview below:
During the investigation, deputies and a non-profit donated new gifts to Hudson and her children, according to WEAR News.
However, deputies later received a tip-off that Hudson was lying the entire time and the stolen items were hidden safely at her relative’s residence.
“During the course of the investigation, a tip to SWFL Crime Stoppers revealed information that led detectives to evidence that later determined Hudson lied about the burglary, and found the reported stolen items hidden at a family member’s residence in Lehigh Acres,” the sheriff’s office says.
The items included TVs tucked under bed sheets, fishing poles stashed in piles of clothes and nestled behind the dryer, a basket full of Bath and Body Works. Lee County deputies compared what they found to the list of “stolen” items and marked off nearly every single one.
