Fremont police officers played Santa this Christmas after a family with four children had their gifts stolen just before Christmas Eve.
In the department's Facebook post, police described how the Szeto family in the Ardenwood neighborhood called police to report a burglary on Wednesday night. All the children's presents had been taken.
The theft "touched the hearts of our officers," the post read. And the midnight patrol shift sprung into action. They "knew they had to do something," the post read.
Fast forward to Thursday night, and Fremont police officers posted photos of themselves wrapping presents in a workroom. Officer L. Kennedy strapped on a Santa hat. And about a dozen officers hopped in their patrol sleighs to the family's home to deliver the goodies.
Photos the family allowed the department to share show the four kids opening new gifts with glee, laughing and smiling on the couch, and then arm and arm with the officers in their living room.
The children wrote notes to the officers thanking them for "sacrificing their time" and recognizing that police officers have scary jobs.
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One of the girls, Naomi wrote in her "Dear Cops," letter: "Thank you for making our house feel safe again." Another sibling told the police, the department said, that this was the "best Christmas ever."
