Woman Charged With Stealing Donation Box of Toys

Amanda Akins confessed to authorities that she took the box of toys, the sheriff's office said.

Authorities have charged a woman with stealing a donation box full of toys in Winter Haven and some of the toys have been recovered.

Authorities say that on Friday they got a tip that a woman who appeared in a surveillance video released to the public may be 27-year-old Amanda Akins of Winter Haven. She had been arrested a day earlier by Polk County Sheriff's Office deputies for a Hillsborough County warrant for petit theft.

Authorities went to the jail to interview her and she confessed to taking the Toys for Tots box of toys from a Polk City restaurant, the sheriff's office said. She had left the toys with a friend and some were found there but not all of them, authorities said.

She now faces a charge of grand theft and will have her first appearance hearing on Sunday.

"We are so grateful to the community for helping us identify this 'Grinch' responsible for stealing children's toys -- and just in time for Christmas!" said Sheriff' Grady Judd in a statement. "And we here at PCSO also got our Christmas wish-- that the suspect responsible for doing this will be eating processed turkey on Christmas day, in the Polk County Jail."

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