--- description: A 7-year-old New Jersey girl called 911 in a panic when she thought she had ruined Christmas. title: A New Jersey Girl Called 911 After Knocking Over Her Elf on the Shelf image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A New Jersey Girl Called 911 After Knocking Over Her Elf on the Shelf  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Dec 23, 2015 3:50 PM CUT  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Dec 23, 2015 3:50 PM CUT A 7-year-old New Jersey girl called 911 in a panic when she thought she had ruined [Christmas](http://time.com/4159929/santa-tracker-how-to-christmas/ "undefined"). Police say Isabelle LaPeruta contacted them after she threw a ball that knocked over her [Elf on the Shelf](http://time.com/4153418/elf-on-the-shelf-dad-4-month-old/ "undefined") . Touching an elf makes the [magic of Christmas](http://time.com/4152307/christmas-tree-lights-history/ "undefined") disappear, according to the popular children’s book. In the middle of the call, she told the 911 operator not to come to her home because she had meant to call her dad, [NBC New York](http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Girl-Calls-911-Elf-on-Shelf-Santa-Emergency-363303221.html "undefined") reports. However, police are required to check 911 calls and found LaPeruta in tears when they arrived. Her mother, Lynanne, says she awoke from a nap to find her daughter hysterically crying as she tried to make the officer leave her house. The two were then able to calm the little girl down. The officer radioed back to headquarters to say that the matter had been resolved: “Isabella apologized. She touched the Elf on a Shelf. She won’t call 911 again.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4159961/elf-on-the-shelf-police/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4159961/elf-on-the-shelf-police/"},"headline":"A New Jersey Girl Called 911 After Knocking Over Her Elf on the Shelf","datePublished":"2015-12-23T15:50:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:28:03.549Z","description":"She thought she had made the magic of Christmas disappear","url":"https://time.com/4159961/elf-on-the-shelf-police/","keywords":["Newsfeed","christmas","Holidays","Weird News"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"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/4159961/elf-on-the-shelf-police/","name":"A New Jersey Girl Called 911 After Knocking Over Her Elf on the Shelf"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Here Is an Adorable Compilation of Kids Reacting to Opening Christmas Presents","description":"From jubilant exclamations — \"Santa knowed what I wanted for Christmas!\" — to earsplitting shrieks, here are some of our favorite reactions.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bphe0Q3F/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-12-20T15:53:36.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bphe0Q3F.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4159961/elf-on-the-shelf-police/","duration":"PT1M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4159961/elf-on-the-shelf-police/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```