Easter eggs meant for boy with Down syndrome stolen

Chula Vista police are investigating after eggs meant for an Easter egg hunt for a toddler with Down syndrome were stolen right from a family’s front yard.

After Janet and Michael Ford had left for church about noon Sunday, a neighbor spread several Easter eggs across their front lawn for the couple’s almost 2-year-old son Gabriel to find, said Janet Ford.

The family had been teaching the toddler to pick up things and they were looking forward to having him gather his eggs.

“This past January Gabe had his fingers separated,” Ford said. He had a condition called syndactyly, where some or all fingers are conjoined, in both of his hands and he was in casts up to his armpits for six weeks. He just recently had the casts removed, she said.

“His fingers have been swollen and what little bit of use he had of his hands, he had to learn in a different way.”

Janet said his physical therapist and occupational therapist had been working with Gabe to regain lost fine motor skills after the surgery.

They were looking forward to the egg hunt but when the family returned from church they found that all of the eggs on the lawn were gone.

“My husband was mad but I thought, no, it’s Easter. Easter is about forgiveness,” Ford said. So the family enjoyed the rest of their day, had a picnic and enjoyed some archery.

Later that evening they noticed that several Easter decorations that the couple’s older son had hung, which had not been taken along with the first batch of eggs, were also missing.

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That is when they checked their home video surveillance tape and were surprised to see what they found.

It appeared that an older couple, a man and a woman, first walked up, noticed the eggs on the lawn and helped themselves to a few.

They then returned with two kids in tow and cleaned up the rest of the Easter goodies. Ford said it seemed like one of the boys on the tape was reluctant to follow the egg-thievery orders. The couple then came back a third time and took the holiday decorations.

You can see the surveillance video here.

Chula Vista police Lt. Fritz Reber said that police were reviewing the surveillance tape. He said that detectives have some people they want to talk to but that they there is a language barrier and a Cantonese or Mandarin speaker is needed. Reber said they do not know why the couple in the video took the eggs but that they are “open to all possibilities.”

If it is determined that a crime occurred, it would be up to the District Attorney to press charges, the lieutenant said.

According to Fox 5, when neighbors found out that Gabriel’s Easter egg hunt was ruined, they organized another one for the boy. Janet also said that Chula Vista police came by the family’s Eastlake home this morning and decorated their courtyard and left a note and sidewalk chalk for Gabe.

“It’s our responsibility to raise the next generation,” Ford said. “I can’t fathom why adults would do this.”