It's been a year of some unusual crimes, from purse snatching to vandalized manholes to stolen holiday spirit. At the beginning of the last week of December, someone tried to rob the ARC thrift store in Colorado Springs. The crook didn't get away with anything. That starts our look back at the crimes that left people scratching their heads in disbelief.

2009 started when an 80-year-old woman had her recently paid-off Oldsmobile stolen from a senior center. It was parked in a handicap spot. The car was eventually found, but it was totaled.

A rash of burglaries happened in the Rockrimmon neighborhood. That's not the unusual part. It’s what was stolen that was so strange. “I had bought six bananas that morning and a quart of juice. Four of the bananas were gone and quart of juice was open," Ralph told 11 News in February.

A few months later, in April, near Academy and Vickers, some vandals opened up a manhole. They stuffed it with so much trash that it caused sewer water to back up in a nearby home. The mess caused $50,000 in damages.

A woman's purse was snatched right off the back of her chair while she was eating dinner. It happened at a Pueblo restaurant. The crook was a mother with her child.

In a similar incident, a man in his early 20s tried to steal a purse from an elderly woman in Pueblo West. She fought back and he left empty-handed.

In early summer in Colorado Springs, a 1971 Pontiac Lemans was stolen from Jean Alfieri's garage. “It's part of the family. I know it may be hard for some to understand because it's a car, but it is a lot to us,” Alfieri cried. Two days after our story aired, an 11 News viewer spotted the family heirloom. The car thieves were never caught, but a $10,000 reward was given to the tipster.

Holiday decorations were slashed on Jennifer Cervantes' lawn. It deflated the Christmas spirit out of this mother and her seven children. But, the next day, 11 News viewers brought the spirit back and replaced several of the balloons.

Five days before Christmas, a real life Grinch broke into a home. The entire house was cleaned out including the gifts for the two little girls. On Christmas Eve, dozens of gifts were delivered to the house from gracious 11 News followers to make sure this family had the Christmas they'll never forget.

Many of these crimes are unsolved. If you want to help out police, call Crime Stoppers at 634-STOP.