Inflatable Grinch pinched

Inflatable News

Inflatable Grinch pinched

The Grinch may have stolen Christmas, but Mandan police do not know who stole the Grinch.

Lori Ihli and Mike Moszer woke up Sunday morning to find that someone had stolen the 8-foot blow-up Grinch from their yard at 3004 Twin City Drive in Mandan.

"Our neighbor let the dog out at 3 a.m. Sunday and said the Grinch was still there," Ihli said. "We left for church just before 8 a.m., and it was gone."

Mandan Police Chief Dennis Rohr said the Grinch is the first reported stolen holiday decoration of the season.

"We generally get a couple reports like this each Christmas," Rohr said. "We have a notice out, but no suspects."

He said when people decorate their yards, they risk having items stolen.

"Anytime you put something out, there's always the chance people will take it," Rohr said. "So far, we haven't had anything I'd call a rash of this behavior."

Ihli said stealing the Grinch, worth $60, would not have been an easy task. The 8-foot Grinch was staked down with cords and attached to a fan to keep it inflated. The suspect cut those cords with a knife. It was plugged into to an outdoor outlet to power the fan.

The Grinch has a zipper on the side to increase deflation time that Moszer said is not easy to see.

"Even if you use the zipper it still takes a good three or four minutes to deflate," he said.

Ihli and Moszer have a variety of other decorations in their yard that did not appear to be touched, including a large blow-up bear and the Grinch's dog.

"I'm not going to take the other decorations down," Moszer said. "I'm not going to let something like this ruin Christmas."

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