'Grinch-like' mom allegedly hides her kids' Christmas presents, tells police and media they had been stolen

A woman in Florida has been arrested after she allegedly hid the Christmas presents she had purchased for her kids and then reported to police and the media that they had been stolen.

On November 19, Shana Anica Hudson, 39, contacted authorities to say that several items, including her kids' Christmas presents, had been stolen from her residence in Lehigh Acres, Florida, about 15 miles east of Fort Myers. Hudson also took her story to the local media.

"I wanted my kids to have a decent Christmas, but now they’re not gonna have a Christmas at all because some thief came and stole our s**t," Hudson told one news outlet. She then turned to the camera and begged the alleged thief to fess up and make restitution: "Turn yourself in and bring us back our stuff so me and my kids can have a good Christmas."

Moved by the woman's story, detectives looking into the alleged burglary tapped into some funds from the Lee County Sheriff's Office's "Shop with a Cop" event to try and help her out. Together with a local American Legion Auxiliary Unit, the detectives managed "to surprise the mother with new gifts," the sheriff's office claimed.

However, a tip made to Crime Stoppers led to what the sheriff's office called a "Grinch-like turn of events," as investigators soon began to suspect that Hudson had fabricated the story. After digging further, they reportedly found the missing presents safely tucked away at a home belonging to a member of Hudson's family.

On the night of December 4, Hudson was arrested and charged with one felony count of filing a false police report, and members of the sheriff's office had some fun making the arrest and posting about it to Facebook. "Riiiing Riiiing Hey Shana, Who-ville Called, they want their Grinch back," opened the sheriff's office's Facebook post about the arrest. During a video included in the post, one person dressed up as the Grinch prances about as Hudson is led away to jail, a facility humorously nicknamed the Marceno Motel after Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno.

"Hudson was transported to the Marceno Motel for her charge where this Grinch will have plenty of time to think twice about stealing Christmas," the post said, adding hashtags #YoureAMeanOne and #StealingChristmasBackfired.

"This pathetic behavior is unacceptable, especially given the circumstances this holiday season," added Sheriff Marceno. "This woman took advantage of the system and is now paying the price for her selfish choices."

Law&Crime reported that Hudson has five dependents and has retained a public defender. She has already bonded out of custody and is scheduled to appear in court again the day after Christmas.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!