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Man Arrested For Stealing From Military Family On Cape Cod Vacation

YARMOUTH (CBS) -- Police arrested an Acushnet man they say stole the personal belongings of a North Carolina family he befriended at a Yarmouth inflatable park.

Kevin Lima, 36, was arrested in Plymouth Thursday, nearly a week after police say he stole hundreds of dollars, military identifications, and the specially made hearing aids of a disabled US Marine and his family while they were vacationing in Yarmouth.

YARMOUTH
Kevin Lima (Courtesy: Yarmouth Police Department)

Robert Watson, a military veteran who was wound twice in Iraq, told police that he, his wife and two children spent part of their day at Cape Cod Inflatable Park where they befriended Lima. The Watsons put down their bag for just a few minutes to go down a slide when Lima allegedly took off with their belongings.

"Right at the end of the night, it was so quick, like a minute," said Watson. "In one minute he was out the door with our bag."

"My first thought was, what was I going to do to get my family back where we needed to be," said Robert Watson's wife, Kristina.

When word reached Yarmouth Police Chief Steve Xiarhos, whose son died in Iraq, he put the word out via social media.

"You hear the bad stories, and there are some bad people, but there's way more good people," Xiarhos said.

Complete strangers, business, Good Samaritans donated money to help the family get back home.

Lima faces multiple charges including larceny over $250.

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