Porch pirates steal gift from 5-year-old with brain tumor — and then return it with an apology letter

Porch pirates stole a package that belonged to a 5-year-old boy with a brain tumor, but when they found out what they had done they returned it with a four-page apology letter.

What's the story?

Timmy Vick is 5 years old. He has autism, and was diagnosed with a brain tumor in October.

In an attempt to cheer him up, Timmy's parents worked with a designer to create an authentic-looking replica of a WWE championship title belt.

The designer, Sergio Moreira, had planned to take a belt the family already had and add cubic zirconia, metal plates, and other features to make it "as close to the original belt that he sees on TV every day than any other belt he could buy in the market." The project cost the family around $2,000.

Timmy's parents shipped the belt to Moreira, but when the belt finally arrived on Moreira's doorstep, it was snatched by two porch pirates. Thanks to a Ring doorbell camera, there was video of the incident. Local police released that video along with Timmy's story, and the thieves listened.

Not only did they return the belt, the two women who had stolen the package from Moreira wrote a four-page letter apologizing for what they had done.

According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, the thieves wrote "[w]e are so sorry for taking your stuff. Never in a million years would I have expected I would have stolen from a sick five year old... I am ashamed of what I did."

When Moreira heard their story, he decided not to press charges. He said he wants both the women to seek help.

"They said they were homeless drug addicts and thought they could make a few extra dollars off of whatever was in the boxes," he told WBOC-TV. "I could see the look on their faces, that they were very, very sad and they had been crying."

Meanwhile, Moreira says Timmy's belt should be ready for shipment in about three weeks.