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Baltimore woman is on a mission to find the neighbor who quietly returned items stolen from her car

Jiri Cruz (left) and her good samaritan neighbor (right)
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BALTIMORE, Md. — A West Baltimore woman is searching for a mystery neighbor who stepped in after her car was broken into overnight on Druid Hill Avenue.

Baltimore woman on a mission to find the neighbor who returned stolen items

Baltimore woman on a mission to find the neighbor who returned stolen items

Jiri Cruz walked out Sunday morning to find her car had been broken into. Neighbors told her two men in black hoodies and black masks broke the windows of her car.

"It's such a violation, you don't feel safe," Cruz said. "It was obvious they were out to do no good, because apparently they were breaking into other cars in the area."

Cruz's car with broken windows after the break-in
Cruz's car with broken windows after the break-in

The thieves took two items from her car — a garden bed and a doggy waste bin — both purchased with grant funding and money the community raised to improve a green space in Baltimore's Milton-Montford neighborhood.

"They must have dropped the packages because the person picked them up and dropped them here," Cruz said.

Shortly after, an unidentified person retrieved the dropped packages and delivered them to Cruz's front porch.

"That significant act of kindness that that person did, I want them to know. They just think 'Oh, these stupid kids out here stealing stuff, let me bring that over there, they have no idea what they did," Cruz said.

Now she wants to find them.

"I want to thank them, I want to hug them, I have a thank-you card I want to give them," Cruz said. "People turn a blind eye to a lot of things; that person didn't. They took action, and we need more of that."

Cruz with the card she got for her mystery neighbor
Cruz with the card she got for her mystery neighbor

Cruz is a veteran, a foster for BARCS and an avid volunteer. She said the anonymous act of kindness will have a wider impact because of what those items meant to her community.

With her car now repaired, Cruz plans to deliver the packages to the community green space this weekend.

"You see those negative things every day, crime shootings, but to have something like this happen, it just feels good," Cruz said.

Baltimore Police said no cameras in the area captured the break-in, and no suspects have been arrested.

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