JOLIET, Ill. — A 52-year-old man might be getting coal in his stocking this year after being arrested for allegedly swiping three giant Christmas reindeer worth a jaw-dropping $45,000 from a baseball stadium.
The Joliet Police Department says the festive theft happened at Duly Health and Care Field, home to the Joliet Slammers baseball team. On November 13, just before 5:15 p.m., officers were called to the stadium after the team noticed that three 12-foot-tall, light-up reindeer had disappeared from the facility’s loading dock. The big holiday decorations were taken over two days, on November 11 and 12, and the thief reportedly used two different pickup trucks to haul them away—a sleek, dark truck on the first day and an older, brown one on the next.
The Slammers quickly shared surveillance photos of the trucks on social media, hoping to rally the community. In their post, they playfully called out the culprit as a “Grinch” trying to ruin the holiday spirit. They even promised to donate to someone’s favorite charity if they provided information that would help bring back “Rudolph and his associates.”
Well, their efforts paid off! On Tuesday, November 26, the Joliet Police announced they had arrested a man named Victor Sessoms the day before. Sessoms admitted to stealing the decorations and scrapping them for cash.
Although Sessoms was taken into custody, police later released him with a notice to appear in court. Unfortunately, it seems Rudolph and his pals won’t be lighting up the field this holiday season, but at least the mystery of the missing reindeer has been solved!
