Secret Santas caught red-handed; Neighbors welcome mysterious visitors

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    LINCOLN, California (KOVR) — Two kids in Lincoln are calling themselves the Cookie Ninjas after they were caught on Ring surveillance camera sneaking onto neighbors’ porches to drop off holiday goodies.

The suspicious duo says they were dressed in disguise.

“I sort of just wear a hat, sunglasses,” 10-year-old Imriel Ely said. “You don’t want them to see you technically.”

Imriel delivers treats with his 7-year-old brother Damon.

“I wear a hat and sunglasses,” Damon Ely said.

Despite the cover-up, they were caught red-handed leaving goodies for their friend Lucas.

“It’s not every day you see pirates coming up to your door and giving you cookies,” Lucas said.

The porch pirate pandemic is well known to the Ninjas

“Porch pirates takes people’s gifts and they open them for themselves,” Damon Ely said.

So, he and his brother have decided to take matters into their own hands.

“One of us hops out and we ring the doorbell and place the cookies and then we run back to the car as fast as we can,” Imriel Ely said.

Imriel says he understands why they can’t see their friends in person.

“Because of COVID. Some people don’t even know they have COVID and they spread it to their friends and then their friends spread it to their friends and then their friends spread it,” he said.

So they’re showing love in a different way, dropping off the desserts made by Momma Ninja herself.

“We figured this way we can still show our friends that we love them and care about them without sharing our germs,” Justine Ely said.

And their neighbors definitely aren’t complaining about the sweet gifts.

“I absolutely loved it and I know they love doing it,” neighbor Sarah Uhrich said.

CBS13 did reach out to the Lincoln Police Department to ask about the Secret Santas. They wrote in part, “We are aware of the situation and think it’s quite fitting and thoughtful considering the year we’ve had and the holiday season we’re in.”

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