MAUMEE, Ohio — A man who said he hates Christmas shoved a Salvation Army bell ringer to the ground and swiped one of the charity’s red kettles stuffed with hundreds of dollars, police said.
The bell ringer, an unemployed woman, tried to pull the kettle away from the man Saturday evening, but he pushed her down and said, “I can’t stand you and your bell-ringing. I hate Christmas,” police said.
Shawn Krieger, 44, of Toledo walked by the bell ringer at least twice before he made a grab for the money, said police Sgt. Jeff Siebenaler.
The bell ringer chased him into a store parking lot before he tossed the kettle into the back of a stolen pickup truck and sped away, police said. An empty kettle was found a day later.
Police arrested Krieger on Monday morning and charged him with robbery. They had not recovered any money. The Salvation Army estimated that the kettle held $500 to $700.
The bell ringer, whose name hasn’t been released, had been collecting money outside a general store for most of the day when she was shoved from behind, said Capt. Steven Lopes, coordinator of the Salvation Army in northwest Ohio.
