Police Blotter: Mom Says Thief Stole Kids' Christmas Presents from Her Van

A Middleburg Heights woman told police someone broke into her van while she was at , 8465 Pearl Rd., Dec. 9 and took all of her children's Christmas presents.

The theft was reported shortly before 1 a.m.

Stolen from the rented vehicle were a DVD, bedsheets, an electronic game and a football action figure.

There were no signs of force entry to the van.

Swim Team in Hot Water

Some members of the Strongsville High School girls swim team were caught in the act of spreading toilet paper in the yard of a house on Fern Canyon Drive about 1:50 a.m. Dec. 11.

Police stopped two carfuls of girls, who said they were TP-ing the houses of members of the boys swim team.

They said the boys were doing the same thing to their houses.

Officers sent all nine girls home, but warned them that if the Fern Canyon resident had a problem with the mischief, they'd be called back in the morning to clean it up.

Mailbox Knockdown

A Collier Drive resident looked outside about 10:30 p.m. Dec. 9 and saw a teenager get out of a black vehicle and tear down his mailbox.

The kid then went next door and tried to tear down the neighbor's mailbox, too, before getting back in the vehicle.

Police also found a damaged mailbox at another Collier address.

Sticky Mischief

A Gate Post Road family woke up Dec. 9 to find Silly String and chocolate sauce all over the garage door, as well as jelly and chocolate sauce in the mailbox and the mail inside.

No other houses on the street were targeted.

Insistent Contractor

A Royalton Road woman complained that while she was out, a contractor forcibly entered her house to work on the basement.

She said she knows the door was locked and the trim on the door was broken.