LED lights, tools used for Phifer family’s Christmas display stolen

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WWBT) - For more than four decades, the Phifer family’s Christmas display on Asbury Court during the holiday season has been a staple for the Richmond area.

However, this year’s light display plans hit a snag when Bobby Phifer noticed more than $900 worth of LED lights and his power tools were gone.

On Friday, Bobby said his mother’s home next door was sold, and there are plans to put up the holiday light show at his home. To lower the power draw, Bobby decided to buy LED lights.

“I’ve been doing this 47 years,” he said. “It’s my hobby.”

Last Friday, Bobby said he started noticing some items were missing from his carport, including bags of rabbit and dog food, a couple of totes of baby clothes, and his power tools.

On Saturday evening, Bobby noticed one important part of this year’s light display was missing.

“We noticed the box that was in the cabinet, doors closed, of the new LED bulbs that we bought to lower the power draw so we can do more this year was gone,” he said.

A moment meant with frustration and heartbreak for Bobby.

“Losing the box of lights was a killer for me,” said Phifer. “Things get stolen every year; stuff gets stolen. That’s part of it. We know it, we accept it, it sucks. Stuff gets stolen out the yard. I think this year we had 10 things stolen. It happens. It’s part of it, but to basically come in my house and steal stuff is not acceptable.”

This moment almost met an end for the decades-long holiday tradition in Henrico until Bobby’s daughter stepped in and created a GoFundMe page to replace what was taken.

The page was also meant to surprise Bobby until he found out on Thursday afternoon.

“I’m really shocked,” he said. “Thanks to everybody, we’ll reorder the lights. We’re going to invest the money into different LED lights.”

So far, the GoFundMe page has raised more than $2,800, which surpassed the original $1,500 goal.

Bobby’s daughter even adds within 24 hours of the GoFundMe page going live, around $800 was donated to help the family keep their Christmas spirit alive.

“Knowing that my hobby can make hundreds of thousands of people in Richmond smile in the face of the night, my hobby is pretty cool,” said Bobby. “But, in February, to get support from the community, that’s pretty cool.”

The Phifer family also filed a police report with the Henrico County Police Department.

A spokesperson for the Henrico County Police Department says anyone has any information about this case or any video footage to help track down who did this by calling Crime Stoppers at (804)-780-1000 or online at p3tips.com.

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