By Police1 Staff
FARMINGTON, Mo. — An officer helped save the day after a Halloween prank caused an autistic teenager to have a breakdown, KSDK reported.
Evan Robinson, 16, had his inflatable ghost tree decoration stolen from his front yard the day before Halloween.
“He called us, uncontrollable, distraughtness, crying, having a breakdown, saying someone took his inflatable,” Evan’s father, John Robinson, told the publication. “He loves everyone. To have someone come by and do something awful to him. It was just hard as a parent.”
Evan had saved his money to buy the decoration and cherished it, John told KSDK.
Officer Ryan Miller responded to the family’s theft call.
“You know a lot of times, people who suffer from autism, they associate a lot of meaning to inanimate objects that a lot of people think is just nothing,” Miller told KSDK.
Miller wrote about the incident on the department’s Facebook page, detailing the extreme level of pain the theft caused the Robinson family. A few hours later, the ghost tree was found and returned to the family’s porch without a note or explanation.
Miller also left the family a Santa inflatable on their porch.
“If I can’t get that back for him, I know there is something I can get for him,” Miller told the news site. “Being kind is free.”
Miller told the news site it’s unlikely the suspect and their motive will ever be revealed. For now, Evan has two new decorations to adore.
“We’ve been talking about kindness all day. I haven’t cried this much as a grown man in 50 years,” John told the publication.