KANEOHE, Hawaii (AP) — Single mothers filled with regret want to return items stolen before Christmas from a Hawaii toy store, according to a lawyer who referred to the theft as a "desperate" act.
Surveillance footage from Dec. 1 and released by police last week showed five women and a man helping themselves to items in a Toys R Us display at Windward Mall in Kaneohe. Police said the group had hauled away about $1,000 worth of merchandise.
Attorney Myles Breiner told reporters the women contacted him after police released photos from the footage, and he said the women knew what they did was wrong. He said he contacted police over the weekend and was storing the items in his office.
"They recognize they are in trouble," he told Hawaii News Now, adding that he's made arrangements with other attorneys to make sure they get representation if they are charged.
Most of the women are single, out-of-work moms who took the toys as gifts for their children, Breiner told reporters.
One of the women was with her child and was walking with the group, but didn't take anything, he told KHON.
Last week, police asked the public for help in locating the six people. A witness told police they were seen making several trips to their vehicle through an employee service entrance carrying large boxes of toys.
The man in the group did not contact Breiner.
"Hopefully we'll get some consideration from Toys R Us, hopefully some consideration from the prosecutor's office and the public," Breiner told KITV. "People do desperate things in desperate times."
Breiner could not be reached Tuesday and it was not clear if the women had turned themselves in to police since contacting him.
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