Surveillance video captured by the camera captured someone vandalizing Christmas decorations outside a business in Hialeah, but the age of the vandal has raised questions.
“I never thought a child would disappear like that,” said Irma Arteaga, principal of Hialeah Rossi Nail Tech School.
Arteaga told NBC 6 that she just wanted to bring some festive spirit to the school, but one kid had other plans.
Surveillance cameras showed a young boy punching and kicking festival figures outside his business on 49th Street in Hialeah.
“Usually kids love Mickey Mouse. They love Christmas,” Arteaga said. “I didn’t expect Mickey Mouse to break into pieces.”
The boy was playing catch to two adults who were waiting for the bus with him when his behavior took a drastic turn, using a reindeer as a punching bag and even stepping on a penguin.
“He started playing with the solar lights and using them as projectiles to attack the figures and started tearing them apart, and it got more aggressive until he destroyed every single figurine,” Arteaga said.
Arteaga added that the vandalism took place on Christmas Eve and lasted nearly 30 minutes, but what really struck her was how adults seemed to watch it happen without intervening or trying to stop the children.
“That woman sat there and the whole world would come crashing down, and she didn’t even look back,” Artega said.
Police were called to the scene and the mess was eventually cleaned up.
Arteaga told NBC 6 that she spent more than $1,000 on holiday decorations, which are now falling apart, but still plans to install new ones next year. She just wants adults to take responsibility for their children’s actions.
“I don’t want these things to be replaced by money,” Arteaga said. “I want my children to be taken care of.”
Police urge anyone who recognizes the adult in the surveillance video to contact Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS with any information.