Christmas inflatables found slashed at NE Albuquerque home

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A family in northeast Albuquerque was going all out with the holiday decorations – only to be set back by vandals.

"That’s my favorite thing, watching people drive by slow," said Matthew Olson, homeowner. "Like if I go out to put something in the trash, when people slow down they can see me they’re like ‘sorry,’ he said. But that makes him even happier, he said ‘why? Thank you, thank you, don’t mind me. I don’t exist.’"

Olson has lived in the same northeast Albuquerque neighborhood, near Alameda and Wyoming, for around eight years. Every year, for Christmas and Halloween, his family goes all out with the decorations.

"I start right before Thanksgiving," Olson said. "I mean, the candy cane tree alone, right there, takes me two days. I couldn’t even calculate the time at this point."

But just days before Christmas, Olson noticed some of his inflatables weren’t inflating. He discovered huge cuts in his decorations and he realized someone did this on purpose.

"It was very disappointing. I was not happy that day, let’s put it that way," Olson said. "I was like ‘come on,’ they’re expensive too and they don’t even make those ones anymore. Like, I can’t replace them."

He couldn’t replace those exact decorations, but he did rush out to fill that empty space, determined to not let this ruin the spirit of Christmas.

"There’s nothing you can really do about it," he said. "That’s why I quickly recovered because there’s one family that lives down the street. Every day, her little kid has to see the lights before they’re on, in the day, because they love my Minnie and Mickey and then they come back at night to see them again."

Olson has security cameras outside the home, but the cameras didn’t catch anything. They did have a neighbor stop and offer super-duty tape to try and help fix those cuts – so they are not losing hope just yet. He said it’s just very disappointing.