OKC family searching for stolen "knight in shining armor"
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — An Oklahoma City family is on the hunt for their life-sized knight statue after a thief was caught on camera stealing it off of their front porch Tuesday.
The incident happened just before 2:00 a.m. Tuesday in a neighborhood near Southeast 59th Street and Sooner Road. The Brito family shared video with News 4 of a man seen quickly coming up to their front porch, wrapping his arms around the statue, and making his way out of frame.
"The statue is actually my age," said Valentin Brito, who said his family has owned the statue for over two decades. "It's kind of just like a relic for our family. It's been there, you know, all those years."
Brito said he had left his childhood home on Monday to head back to work when he was notified by his parents on Tuesday that the knight had been stolen. He said he was taken aback by just how brazen the thief was, since the statue was clearly noisy, as heard in the footage shared.
"Coming onto someone's property and taking stuff like that, especially when you're not aware of the sentimental value associated with that, with those things you know, it hurt," said Brito.
Brito said he doesn't believe someone nearby stole the statue, because it has been a longtime staple in the community. He said his family has filed a police report, but he hasn't gotten any strong leads. He's asking Oklahomans to keep an eye out a local pawnshops or scrap metal facilities around town.
News 4 asked a spokesperson with the Oklahoma City Police Department for a copy of the report on Tuesday, but was told it was not finished yet.
Brito said the statue is pretty distinguishable to anyone who takes a closer look.
"You could tell it's aged," said Brito. "It's rusted...It's about six feet tall...It has like, feathers coming out, the metallic feathers coming out of the helmet."
Brito said the statue doesn't have a ton of monetary value, but his family is really concerned about someone violating their safe place and taking something that had sentimental value.