Gloucester News

Pumpkin Patch Thieves Go Viral

Reporter Kimberly Sweeney

At roughly seven a.m on Sunday, October 20, 2019, a mother and her child stole two pumpkins from a local sellstop.

Twister Ice Cream and Coffee was the place selling pumpkins, and the entire ordeal was caught on their surveillance cameras.

The mother and child are seen on surveillance lookings at pumpkins. As the patch was not open yet, nor was anyone out there, it seemed suspicious. The owner’s worst fears were confirmed when the mother took a large pumpkin and put it in the bed of her pickup truck. Then, the child picks up a medium sized pumpkin, putting that in the truck as well. Without paying, they drove off.

Mi Bush is the owner of the coffee shop. She was notified of the thievery by an app on her phone. She said, “To see it as it was happening... I couldn’t believe it. I was looking over it again and again. I was just thinking, 'Wow, this is wrong.'"

To Ms.Bush, she was not as upset that she was stolen from, more so that these people felt comfortable enough to steal from her. Together, the pumpkins cost less than 20 dollars.

"This is wrong. It's not about the pumpkin. It's not a lot, but it's teaching a young kid to do a bad thing. He may be stealing a pumpkin today, but in 10 years from now, what is going to happen to him?" asked Bush. "It's just wrong, l I think."

After posting the video on Facebook and other social media sites, she wanted not to catch the thieves, but relay a message. All she wanted was to let the kid know that even though their parents taught them it was ok, in reality, it was not. She hopes that sharing the video will help steer the child on a better course.