Lansdale Police. Photo by James Short.
The smash-and-grab occurred in the rear parking lot of Homewood Suites by Hilton.
A former Lansdale Borough woman and her husband were the targets of some Christmastime Grinches who Scrooged them out of gifts for their children and grandchildren in the back parking lot of Homewood Suites in Lansdale Borough Friday night.
Monica Zellman, of Canadensis, PA, who lived in the borough for more than 30 years on Highland Avenue (and whose late husband’s father, Elmer Grebe Sr., co-founded Cannoneers), and her husband, John, were in town for an early Christmas celebration. The party was the next day at her daughter Ashley Clemens’s home in Upper Gwynedd, and it was being celebrated early due to the Christmas Day schedule of her other daughter Samantha, a Norristown Police officer.
The couple went out to dinner Friday night at 7 in their heavily-tinted Ford Expedition – with at least $1,200 worth of wrapped presents of various weights and sizes, including a new vacuum, in two heavy boxes – in the trunk.
Around 8 p.m., they parked and locked their truck in the back parking lot of Homewood Suites by Hilton, a three-star hotel on Pennbrook Parkway off Church Road on the border with Upper Gwynedd, tucked between the SEPTA tracks, Hancock Street Park woods and two single-family homes.
The next morning, the Zellmans were greeted by broken glass, scattered homemade cookies, a stolen bin of tools and gear, and stolen gifts. At some point overnight, thieves smashed the back window of their Expedition and took everything but the cookies.
No other cars were broken into, she said. All they left behind was a dog stroller.
Lansdale Police confirmed Monday that a report was made regarding forcible entry into a vehicle in the Homewood Suites parking lot via breaking out a rear window. About 30 gifts and a toolbox were reported stolen between 8 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday, police said.
Luckily, Zellman’s husband and son-in-law Dave Clemens, of Clem’s Small Engine Repair, were able to tape up the back window secure enough to get them home.
Zellman is hoping her auto insurance will cover the loss, thus they have not replaced their gifts yet from Amazon and other stores. She said she wants to wait to hear from her insurance adjuster to make sure things are covered at the prices she bought them for back on Black Friday.
“I thought about taking the gifts inside, but it was a lot, it was cold and snowing,” she said. “But we shouldn’t have to.”
At first, Zellman was devastated to not have any gifts for her children and grandchildren.
Then, out of the mouths of babes.
“Your Little Miss Lansdale, Sophia Grebe, my granddaughter: I walked into the house on Saturday and said, ‘I’m so sorry I don’t have gifts. I’ll get them and send them to you.’ And she said, ‘Mom-Mom, Christmas is not about the presents; it’s about the people and the family we get to spend time with.’ This is from a seven-year-old!”
In the end, the thief or thieves did not entirely ruin the Zellman’s Christmastime.
“You go through the motions: You get excited about them opening presents and you see if everybody likes everything, and I like giving gifts to my kids and grandkids. I was disappointed I couldn’t do that. But, the family rallied and said it was OK,” Zellman said. “It was the first time that I never had anything for my kids on Christmas. It’s just hurtful to think that people have to steal other people’s Christmas presents.”
She was also quick to shut down rumors and accusations from members of the community that the nearby homeless from the encampments in the park were the humbugs.
“I don’t think it was them at all,” she said. “I don’t blame them. They just want a place to put their head.”
Plus, she said there were some heavy gifts.
“There was a bag in the back of the car with dozens of cookies, and the cookie tins had dumped over when they grabbed the other stuff. Thats why I think it was simply criminals,” she said. “It’s not somebody that came on the train from Philly and got back on train. It’s somebody that had a car.”
Zellman sold her home at Highland and Wissahickon avenues after more than 30 years for the Poconos in 2017. She has seen encampments and the homeless of Lansdale come and go; there was a time in the late 1980s-early 1990s when there was an issue with people living in the woods.
“We’ve had car broken into a couple of times, but never anything like this,” she said. “These things happen.”
Zellman took to Lansdale Community Hive on Facebook to warn others of the incident and was really surprised by all the support. Her post also pointed out that she was told by an unidentified member of Homewood Suites management that the hotel has no exterior security cameras.
“I spoke to the manager here and she said that they talked to Hilton corporate to put up cameras in the lot a couple of times, and the policy is they don’t put up cameras because it turns into a liability for them,” Zellman said. “Hilton won’t allow them. Then, I went on the Hilton site last night and found out that it is mandatory for Hilton hotels to have cameras. I’ve reach out to Hilton corporate and haven’t heard back.”
North Penn Now has reached out via email to Hilton Media Relations for comment.
In the end, Zellman had a wonderful early family Christmas on Saturday, despite the bad tidings.
“Little Miss Lansdale had it right: It’s about the people, it’s about love and family, not the presents,” she said.
