Christmas should turn out as merry as planned for one Canadian family, thanks to an alert off-duty police officer who nabbed a present-pilfering grinch.

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The officer was driving in a neighborhood south of Winnipeg Sunday when he spotted a suspicious vehicle and followed it to a home, the Canadian Broadcast Corp. reported Monday. The driver headed inside with a duffel bag and later came out with it filled with gifts, the network said.

"From what we understand .. it was actually Christmas presents that he had stolen from this residence," said Sgt. Kelly Dennison, a Winnipeg Police Service spokesman.

The suspect tried to get away but the officer followed him and eventually authorities were able to pull him over. The 22-year-old suspect faces charges of breaking and entering, and theft.