Shocking surveillance footage captured the moment an adult man stole two young children from their lemonade stand.
Surveillance footage shows a car pulling into a driveway in Chesapeake, Virginia, when a man exits the vehicle and approaches 10-year-old Rebecca Caldwell and her brother, Josh.
Rebecca told NewsNation affiliate CURLY that she started offering him lemonade when he suddenly grabbed the jar of money and ran away.
“We had already gotten $40. It seemed pretty good, and then the guy came,” Rebecca said. “He was really nice. He was just like, ‘Oh, cool, they’re doing a lemonade stand.’ And then he was getting really close, but I had my back turned, so I didn’t notice.”
Rebecca and her brother immediately ran inside the house to tell their mother what had happened. The suspect has not yet been identified.
An adult man in Chesapeake, Virginia, robbed two young children of the money they earned selling lemonade on the street.
Rebecca said she started to offer him lemonade, but he suddenly grabbed the jar of money and ran away.
“I just wanted to know who would do that, because there are just innocent kids out here running lemonade stands,” said Annetta Caldwell, Rebecca and Josh’s mother.
The brothers have hosted lemonade stands and bake sales before and said they have never had any problems.
“It was like a hot summer day, so I thought it would be nice for people to drink lemonade,” Rebecca said.
Father Ryan Caldwell said he is concerned about the lasting impact this traumatic experience will have on his children.
“I don’t think it’s really a money thing,” he said. “They just like doing it, being here and seeing people. We don’t want that stolen from them, you know, we want the fun, the innocence, to remain. So that’s probably the worst part: the stolen innocence.”
The money Rebecca and Josh earned would go to their older sister or into their savings to buy a dirt bike.
“I don’t know if we should talk to him, part of me wants some answers,” Annetta Caldwell said.
But the girl said she wanted to focus on compassion and forgiveness.
“We want him to become a Christian and have a good life, but we would tell him not to go to jail, to do more community service and things like that,” he said.
The sister-brother duo has hosted lemonade stands and bake sales before and said they’ve never had a problem.
Her father, Ryan Caldwell (far right), said he is worried about the lasting impact this traumatic experience will have on his children.
Police responded quickly to the incident and spoke to Rebecca and Josh.
“They’ve been in contact with us for a long time,” Ryan Caldwell said. “They’ve been communicating well and everything. So they’re very interested in helping out and seeing how the issue is resolved.”
The unflappable duo said they plan to host another lemonade stand on Saturday on Bells Mill Road from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
