Thousands raised for Chesapeake kids who had lemonade money stolen

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) – They had $40 stolen. They got back $6,200. A brother and sister’s lemonade stand was busy beyond their wildest dreams Saturday, ten days after a man stole their money in a brazen robbery.

Surveillance video showed the man, believed to be in his 30s, snatch the money from the stand set up by Rebecca Caldwell, 10, and her brother Josh, 8, and race off in a Toyota sedan. The outrage it sparked fueled a huge turnout Saturday when they reopened their stand on Bells Mill Road.

“What kind of jerk comes and steals money from some kids?” asked Kyle Lippiatt, who owns a bike shop in the same neighborhood and rallied two dozen others to come and donate.

Jason Miller was among 60 bikers who rolled in about 11 AM. “What this guy did to these kids is ridiculous, so we gotta show our support,” he said.

The thief made off with about $40 dollars, but Rebecca and Josh collected far more than that in just the first hour. Visitors were regularly donating $10, $20 or more for a cup of lemonade, and their mother tells 10 On Your Side they ended up raising $6,200 during the four hours. 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.

A steady stream of cars stopped in the neighborhood, and then a group of 25 bicyclists, and then 60 motorcycles that cruised in from Virginia Beach.

Steve and Aimee Stefanik drove in from Hampton. They put $100 dollars in the jar – each.

“Something like that shouldn’t happen to kids like this,” Steve said. “They’re out here working. We have kids of our own,” Aimee added. “We wouldn’t want something like that to happen to them.”

On Tuesday, police announced that the thief had been located. Esteban Santillan, 19, has been charged with petit larceny.

Everyone hoped the thief would be caught — but the kids said they’ve already forgiven him.

After their story went viral, their mother Annetta Caldwell says messages of support have come in from as far away as Great Britain and Russia.

“Getting together to ride especially for a cause like this is pretty awesome,” said Andrew Reyes, one of the bikers.

The young entrepreneurs have learned a tough lesson. “There’s still good people out there even though some of them aren’t always the best,” Rebecca said.

Nicole Wilkins of Hickory was stronger in her sentiment about someone stealing money from a lemonade stand. “For someone to do that to these kids is disgusting.”

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