Three-year-old Lanèyah Rush loves Christmas. But when she got home from the park with her mom Wednesday night, all of the presents under her tree were gone.
"She was just like, 'Mommy, where'd they go? I was behaving. Did the elves take my gifts back to the North Pole?' And I'm like, 'Oh my gosh,' and I instantly just started crying," said mom Bianca Arroyo.
Arroyo said she forgot to lock the door that evening.
She had just started working again. Her hard earned paycheck went to presents since she couldn't afford to get her daughter much last year.
"Who would steal from a child," Arroyo asked. Nothing else was taken from the home.
She called the police. Officer Mario Castro of the Norwich Police Department showed up at her door.
"Who does that? Especially two weeks out from Christmas," Castro said.
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After taking her statement, Castro rushed to one of the locations for the Tommy Toy Fund and picked up a bike and games to make sure Christmas wasn't spoiled for Lanèyah.
"I think any officer at this department would have done the same thing," he said.
Arroyo, who went to high school with Castro, said this officer saved Christmas.
"I'm just like, 'Oh my goodness,' and I broke down crying. I was just very emotional. I couldn't stop saying thank you," Arroyo said.
As far as Lanèyah knows, he's just an elf in disguise.
"What did Santa say? That he's making a few adjustments," Arroyo asked.
"Yep," Lanèyah cheered!
