‘Get him, Santa!’ Cops dressed as Santa, elf dash to car theft, California police say

Two police officers dressed as Santa Claus and an elf to combat shoplifting at a California store Thursday leaped into action when car thieves stole a Honda CR-V in the parking lot, police say.

The undercover Santa and elf dashed to the parking lot, where the elf detained one man, while Santa tackled another suspect, the Riverside Police Department wrote on Facebook.

“Get him, Santa!” shouted one onlooker, a video of the incident at a Riverside shopping center shows, Fox News reported.

A third man escaped in the stolen Honda, police reported. One man was arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs and resisting arrest, while the other was released. The Honda was found abandoned nearby.

The undercover officers also arrested two people suspected of shoplifting from a Target store in the shopping center, and a third man who tried to enter the store despite being banned for earlier thefts, Riverside police wrote.

One of the accused shoplifters tried to steal premium Lego sets worth more than $1,000, according to police.

This story was originally published December 13, 2020 at 3:52 PM with the headline "‘Get him, Santa!’ Cops dressed as Santa, elf dash to car theft, California police say."