Records obtained through an open records request show the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office has received 30 reports about a group of children — known throughout Oshtemo Township shopping plazas as “the candy kids” — stealing candy and other items, then selling them in nearby parking lots.
The children, sometimes five to a group and sometimes as young as 8 years old, have also been reported stealing Legos and Valentine’s Day flowers, according to the records.
In at least one instance, records show a mother knowingly transported her children to commit the crimes. A sheriff’s deputy wrote in their report that she “continues to transport her children to conduct these crimes.”
In another instance, a child as young as 8 years old was left behind by the other children alone at a business.
Anna Burk, an employee of five years at Slap Shot, a hockey bar in the area, said she has seen the activity firsthand…