Bruce Vielmetti

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Grinch who police say stole Christmas from several residents by snatching gifts from their porches now faces a not-so-happy New Year – nine criminal counts in court.

According to a criminal complaint, Mario Beltran, 31, started his spree on Nov. 24 and grabbed boxes over the next several days after they'd been delivered to addresses on the city's south side, Greenfield and St. Francis.

The take included everything from Disney Christmas ornaments, a toy dinosaur, Legos and Nerf guns to makeup, slippers, a beach towel, headphones and gum. One victim had even ordered some security doorbells designed to deter and catch just such a porch pirate -- but never got it.

But other residents' cameras had captured video of a man wearing distinct red shoes and wearing a single glove steal packages from their porches and return to a black Cadillac with tinted windows.

Greenfield Police were on the lookout for that car and stopped it for driving without lights the night of Dec. 1. Beltran was in the passenger seat, wearing one glove, with red shoes in a box near his feet. There were Amazon boxes inside.

Police arrested Beltran. The driver, Beltran's girlfriend, said they lived in the 2700 block W. Howard Ave., where police found the large stash of stolen deliveries, many of which still had shipping information and were able to be returned to the victims.

Beltran has a prior conviction for receiving stolen property. His new charges include a felony count of receiving stolen property, punishable by up to 18 months in prison, plus eight misdemeanor counts of theft, each punishable by up to 9 months in jail.