A midwestern family was stunned by the community response after sharing home surveillance footage of two female thieves stealing their brand-new potted plants and flowers.
Wyoming, Michigan resident Patricia Quinones shared the video in a Facebook post on May 29. Through semi-grainy images of the day before, viewers can easily spot two youngish women quickly putting their backs into an illicit plant removal routine. Quinones wrote:
I went to the store to buy flower pots for my plants and I got even more plants and beautiful flowers! I wanted my house to look nice, just like anyone would. But I guess my house looked TOO nice with all those plants because these two females decided to come when everyone was asleep (5-6am) and park on the grass and take all of my flowers.
In her since-viral post, the plant-deprived victim also noted that area police were on the case and looking for the women involved. In a series of updates, Quinones later revealed the culprits had been identified and that a detective came by to return her stolen flowers–estimated at roughly $500 in value.
But that wasn’t quite the end of it. After her story saturated the Grand Rapids media market, local plant vendors responded with cases and cases of gratis greenery.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Rick Vuyst, the CEO of Fruit Basket–Flowerland supplied the Quinones family with dozens of plants for their front yard. Vuyst said, “That’s what it’s all about people and plants!”
Not to be outdone, Bloem, a pottery and planter wholesaler in nearby Hudsonville, also provided the family with “several large pots.”
[image via screengrab/Facebook/Patricia Quinones]
Follow Colin Kalmbacher on Twitter: @colinkalmbacher
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