Man arrested in theft of lemonade stand money in Virginia

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — Police in Virginia have made an arrest in a case that soured a lot of folks on human nature.

Chesapeake police said they found the man who walked up and stole money from a kids’ lemonade stand in Chesapeake earlier this month.

Police arrested Esteban Santillan, 19, in connection with the theft that was caught on surveillance camera. He has been charged with petit larceny.

The story on the brazen theft went viral Aug. 14 when a man, who police believe was Santillan, made off with a money jar and the roughly $40 in it after 10-year-old Rebecca Caldwell and her brother Josh, 8, had set up their lemonade stand in front of their home on Bells Mills Road. The man then sped off in a Toyota sedan.

However, a surveillance camera was watching, and so were lots of folks in Hampton Roads after learning what happened. They were outraged, and 10 days later showed their overwhelming support .

Rebecca and Josh may have had about $40 stolen, but they got back $6,200 after an outpouring of support. Their lemonade stand was busy beyond their wildest dreams last Saturday, 10 days after Santillan allegedly took off with their money.

They plan to use the proceeds to support their sister’s mission trip, along with a four-wheeler for Rebecca and a dirt bike for Josh.

According to Santillan’s social media pages, he attended high school in Connecticut but was currently a student at Tidewater Community College, which has a campus near the kids’ home. Santillan listed a current address about 2 miles from that neighborhood.

The kids’ mother, Annetta Caldwell, said Tuesday she’s glad to hear of an arrest.

“I’m super relieved they made an arrest,” she said.

If in fact Santillan is the one who stole the money from her kids, “I want to meet him and talk to him. I’m not angry. I just want to learn more about his situation and why he did what he did.”

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