CI woman charged in inflatable snowman theft, cops say

A Central Islip woman has been charged with stealing an inflatable snowman from the front lawn of a Central Islip home last month, police said Wednesday.

After an investigation, Third Precinct police officers arrested Tinisha Delacruz, 31, of Smith Street about 8:50 a.m. Wednesday. .

Delacruz is accused of stealing the decoration from the front lawn of a house on Ackerman Street on Nov. 28, police said. She told officers she sold the inflatable for money to buy drugs, police said.

She was charged with petty larceny in the lawn decoration theft as well as criminal possession of a controlled substance. She will be scheduled for arraignment at a later date, police said.

Edison Sepulveda, 25, whose family owned the snowman, had said at the time of the theft that he recorded a woman stealing an inflatable snowman from his family’s festive front lawn.

Sepulveda posted the footage, which was recorded on a security camera placed outside the house, to Facebook that same morning. He said he was hoping someone would recognize the thief, who’s seen removing the stakes securing the 6-foot-tall snowman and carrying it away.

Sepulveda could not be immediately reached Wednesday night.

Police said Third Precinct officers recognized Delacruz in the video.

Sepulveda said at the time that his grandfather, Rafael Chacon, 80, has put the snowman, worth about $100, and other decorations on their front lawn every holiday season since they moved into the house 13 years ago.

— With Ellen Yan