‘Thank you’: Community shows support for toy store targeted by thieves

CHARLOTTE — The community showed its support the day after a local toy store was targeted by two thieves.

Surveillance video from Tuesday shows two men loading their arms up with toys inside Harper and Skyler’s Toys and Sweets in the Park Road Shopping Center. After about 25 seconds, when their hands were full, they just walked out the door.

Once outside, they hustled to their car and drove away ignoring owner Dan Weiss’ pleas. All he could do was snap photos of the crime.

Weiss said that after our story aired, many Channel 9 viewers stepped up.

The community’s support has been overwhelming, he said.

“The sheer volume of comments on social media and people coming in today was surprising,” Weiss said. “It was great.”

One of the acts of kindness came from one of his youngest supporters.

“The best story today is a seven-year-old boy who brought in three of his own puzzles to donate back to the store because he heard we had been robbed twice,” Weiss said.

He wanted to thank the community.

“Whether they wanted toys or not, they were coming in and making sure everything was OK, so just a big thank you,” Weiss said.

‘It’s tough’

“It’s tough. I mean, you work really hard to make a safe environment and have product for everyone,” Weiss said Tuesday. “It just takes couple bad apples and it is what it is.”

Weiss says it unfortunately wasn’t the first time. He says a few weeks ago, someone did the same thing with high-priced scooters. It’s unclear if the two thefts are connected.

This isn’t a big box chain store. It’s a young, small business. Weiss named it after his kids after moving to Charlotte from New York during the pandemic.

“I’m here for the people that want to be here and want to shop small,” he said. “They want to support business in the community.”

This is the busiest time of year for his store with Christmas being less than a week away.

He’s frustrated about the thefts but hopes the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department makes arrests and people support small businesses with their last-minute shopping.

“You hope it doesn’t happen,” he said. “You hope that people are better than that. But it just isn’t the case all the time.”

Weiss says his store partners with charities and other organizations with toy donations. Anyone with information about the crimes is asked to call CMPD.

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