--- title: Tiny Ithaca Policeman Arrests Grinch for Stealing Christmas description: Nine-year-old police officer Colin Hayward Toland arrested the Grinch in Ithaca, NY for the crime of stealing Christmas. canonical: https://time.com/4602163/ithaca-police-arrests-grinch/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-14T17:38:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:39:29.000Z og:title: Watch the Grinch Get Shamed in Court for 'Stealing Christmas' og:description: The crime? For stealing Christmas og:url: https://time.com/4602163/ithaca-police-arrests-grinch/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch the Grinch Get Shamed in Court for 'Stealing Christmas' twitter:description: The crime? For stealing Christmas twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch an Actual Grinch Defend Himself for 'Stealing Christmas' in Court > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c0205fb5-98da-4b69-a467-2cb00358079b&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Dec 14, 2016 5:38 PM UTC  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Dec 14, 2016 5:38 PM UTC An earnest young police officer in [Ithaca, New York](http://time.com/4110652/ithaca-college-student-protests/), bravely captured [the holiday season’s biggest curmudgeon, the Grinch](http://entertainment.time.com/2014/01/15/the-grinch-returns-in-2017/). Officer Colin Hayward Toland, [a 9-year-old honorary member of the Ithaca police force who’s battled brain cancer for most of his life](http://abcnews.go.com/US/year-battling-brain-cancer-sworn-upstate-york-police/story?id=42091396), arrested the Grinch on Tuesday for the crime of “stealing Christmas.” In a Facebook Live video posted by Ithaca’s mayor, Svante Myrick, Toland appeared in court alongside the Grinch, where the judge shared witness accounts from “Whoville” residents who complained about thefts of “pop guns and bicycles, roller skates, drums! Checkerboards, tricycles, popcorn and plums.” Toland testified that the Grinch really does “stink,” while the defendant in question pleaded not guilty, with his legal counsel urging that the judge consider a petition that rhymed like the Dr. Seuss classic, “allow him time for his heart to enlarge. He took this fall because his heart is simply two sizes too small.” Eventually, the Grinch was let off with probation, thanks to Officer Toland’s kind intervention; as a part of his plea bargain, the Grinch was invited to spend Christmas with the young police officer and his family. Myrick approved of the sentence, calling it “restorative justice.” Watch the full clip below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4602163/ithaca-police-arrests-grinch/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4602163/ithaca-police-arrests-grinch/"},"headline":"Watch an Actual Grinch Defend Himself for 'Stealing Christmas' in Court","datePublished":"2016-12-14T17:38:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:39:29.000Z","description":"Your heart might just grow three sizes after seeing this","url":"https://time.com/4602163/ithaca-police-arrests-grinch/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","Culture"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4602163/ithaca-police-arrests-grinch/","name":"Watch an Actual Grinch Defend Himself for 'Stealing Christmas' in Court"}}]}] ```