After a thief stole a local teen’s life savings, Glendale police took heartfelt action

Using allowances and first-job earnings she’d saved over the years, Diana Galvan planned to treat herself to this year’s Glendale High School yearbook, a graduation dress and tickets to Disneyland.

She said she kept her savings, $5,220 in cash, in a Minnie Mouse box hidden in the back of her closet.

Growing up, she filled the box with allowances from her father, a longtime busser at Foxy’s restaurant in Glendale, as well as her income from babysitting and working at a pet store.

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However, on March 18, she was devastated when she returned to her Glendale duplex from school to find out that a thief had stolen the box from her closet.

Glendale Police Officer Frank Martinez responded to her home that afternoon and began investigating, but what he really hoped to do was cheer up Galvan.

“My heart went out to the girl,” Martinez said. “I just felt like we needed to do something to make it better.”

So he spread the word around the station and collected nearly $800 in cash for Galvan, who turned 18 on Sunday. Meanwhile, his colleague, Glendale Police Officer Ernesto Torres, scored four tickets to the theme park — and a $150 gift card to use there — with the help of his daughter’s former softball teammate’s mother, who works for Disney.

“It was just heartbreaking,” Torres said. “This poor kid had been saving all her life.”

Last Thursday, a day after Galvan’s high school graduation, the two officers, along with other police employees, presented the gifts to Galvan and her family, bringing them to tears. The officers were also able to get her a school yearbook and a Minnie Mouse stuffed animal.

“She’s been saving since she was a baby,” said her father, Hernando Galvan. “I feel happy, and thank you to (the) police.”

The theft investigation is ongoing.

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Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @atchek