Lynanne LaPeruta, the girl’s mother, was napping at the time of the incident and awoke to find her daughter trying to get rid of the police officer.
“She was hysterical crying, she was panicking,” the mother told WNBC-TV.
The girl calmed down when her mother and the police officer assured her that she wasn’t in any trouble. “Isabella apologized. She touched the Elf on a Shelf. She won’t call 911 again,” the officer radioed in to headquarters.
“To her, it was an emergency when she touched the elf, and she’s going to ruin Christmas, so that was her emergency,” Old Bridge Police Lt. Joseph Mandola said. “In her mind, she did right, and it was fine with us.”
Isabelle said she was assured that Santa Claus wouldn’t punish her for breaking the rules of the Elf on the Shelf.
“He knows I’m not going to do that again,” she said of St. Nick.
Lynanne LaPeruta said her daughter learned a lesson about 911.
“I think she knows not to call 911 unless it’s an emergency, and an Elf of the Shelf falling off the shelf is not an emergency,” she said.
The Bourne Police Department in Massachusetts posted a tongue-in-cheek alert on its Facebook page earlier this month declaring the Elf on the Shelf a “wanted person.”
“Use Caution. Wanted in a ‘string’ of ginger bread house invasions. Known to spread Christmas Cheer and a specialist in covert surveillance. Often seen hiding in high places. Do not approach and especially DO NOT touch as this is known to cause loss of magical abilities to report back to his jolly kingpin!” the post read.
