PORTSMOUTH, Va. - The pops heard in a surveillance video are not fireworks or gunshots - they're someone stabbing an inflatable nutcracker in a neighbor’s yard.
“He ran out of his car, popped it, went back in his car and went really fast over there,” says 10-year-old Camila Salas.
The Mickey Mouse nutcracker was her favorite.
Camila Salas
She says, “I felt sad because there is some people that want to ruin other people’s Christmas.”
She helps her mother put up the decorations every evening.
“I help my mom make them, put them up, which is cool,” said Salas.
Her house is just one of many on her street with flashing lights, wreaths and inflatables.
“All the decorations are not out. So far, I say roughly about 30 pieces,” said Milton Hooks.
Hooks was upset heard about what happened to Camila’s inflatable because decorations are his specialty.
“It makes me feel great,” said Hooks.
He doesn’t understand why someone would try to steal spirit of Christmas, but that’s why he plays it safe with his pieces.
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“I got spikes in them. Everything contains spikes,” he adds.
He says if he ever see’s anyone near his yard, “I call the police in a heartbeat."
He says his front porch is for the community.
“They are here every evening. When the lights go on, the crowd comes.”
As for Camila, her neighbors are saving the holiday.
“Our neighbors, some of our neighbors said they could help us fix it,” she said.
