| Many people may be wondering if Santa's Naughty Christmas List has become longer this year. In fact, on that Naughty Christmas List one will find snowman stabbers, wreath robbers and Grinch snatchers ... criminals all. In fact, this is the season for strange and unusual crimes ... perpetrated by even stranger and unusual people. For example, in the Windy City, 32 plastic baby Jesus dolls were swiped from Nativity scenes in people's front yards. The dolls were set up in front of a fence outside a woman's house in Chicago. She ended up packing up the dolls and turned them over to the parish priest in her neighborhood. More seasonal crimes were reported in 35 cities from Mission Viejo, CA, to Fayatevile, NC, so says the Catholic League, an organization that tracks nativity vandalism crimes. In Houghton, MI, an inflatable Grinch was stolen from outside of an apartment complex. In addition, two plastic reindeer and a statue of the baby Jesus along with a batch of wreaths were swiped. In Hamilton County in Ohio, two 18 years old boys were arrested after they stabbed an inflatable 12 foot tall Frosty the Snowman. The snowman had been attacked two other times. A couple of other teenagers were arrested after they smashed a car indo a decorative candy cane. A woman in Oklahoma was arrested after she tried to pass a marijuana filled Christmas card to her incarcerated boyfriend. In Yonkers, NY, Daniel Rios stole $14,000 in employee bonuses. He spent $7,500 of the take but returned $6,500 in checks. And, what is perhaps the cherry on the top of the Christmas crime cake, there is the case of the kidnapping Santa Claus. A motorcycle riding Santa Claus with a stuffed Rudolph in the sidecar grabbed an 8 year old girl outside a convenience store in South Carolina. After a chase, the girl was retrieved from Santa. Santa was arrested some time later ... hiding in a bar. |
Strange seasonal crimes are on the rise this Christmas - police report seasonal thievery, robbery and vandalism by criminals often dressed as Santa.
