Florida grandmother accused of stealing inflatable Halloween ghost while babysitting

A Florida grandmother is accused of stealing an inflatable Halloween ghost from a home's front porch while taking her grandchildren for a drive to look at holiday decorations.

Lakeland porch theft arrest

The backstory:

Tonya Mannion, 53, was babysitting her daughter's three children — two 8-year-olds and a 9-year-old — when she decided to take them for a ride around her hometown of Lakeland to look at Halloween decorations, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd explained.

During the drive, one of the children spotted an inflatable ghost outside a home and commented on the decoration, Judd said.

"Look at that ghost. It's all blown up, it's awesome," the child said, according to Judd.

Mannion then asked the child, "Do you want it?"

The child responded, "Sure!"

Caught on camera

Dig deeper:

Home surveillance video captured Mannion stopping her vehicle, walking onto the home's front porch and unplugging the inflatable ghost, Judd said.

Mannion is accused of taking the decoration and putting it in her vehicle before driving away.

"She ripped off the ghost, and put it in the car and drove off," Judd said. "What kind of example is that for the grandchildren?" 

Deputies tracked down Mannion, who returned the inflatable ghost, according to Judd. She was taken to jail.

"Trick or treat grandma, we recovered the ghost, and you got the trick," Judd said.

Mannion was arrested on three counts of causing a child to become delinquent, dependent or needy, along with charges of unarmed burglary of an unoccupied structure, criminal mischief involving less than $200 in property damage and petit theft, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, who detailed the investigation, arrest charges, surveillance video evidence and the recovery of the stolen property.