Police Dog Caught Stealing Christmas Charity Toys

Investigators with the Franklin, Massachusetts Police Department found themselves with a troubling case: Someone was stealing toys officers had collected for their “Santa Foundation” charity — and as far as they could tell, it was an inside job. So they set up a hidden camera, which on Thursday caught the culprit in the act. It was Ben.

Ben isn’t a police officer. Ben is a therapy dog that lives in the station and accompanies officers to schools and special events. After investigators watched the video of the yellow lab carrying a baby doll into the office it sleeps in, they searched the room — and found Ben under a desk, surrounded by all the missing toys. Apparently, the dog would wait until no one was around and “slowly hoard the toys throughout the day and bring them back to his lair,” a department rep wrote on Facebook.

Ironically, while the dog clearly has no trouble snatching toys from a collection bin, it can’t seem to catch any of his own toys when thrown to him, police say.