6 Crimes Committed by Guys in Santa Suits

Bizarre, Crime

Santa Claus knows when you are sleeping.  He also knows when you’re awake – and he’ll use that information to assault,  kidnap and rob you.

Here are 6 crimes committed by guys in Santa suits:

1) Motorcycle Kidnapper Santa

Don’t trust a Santa on a motorcycle. A family stopping for gas in Columbia, South Carolina in December 2006 noticed an innocuous-looking Santa refueling his motorcycle. He asked if the children wanted to see the stuffed Rudolph in the sidecar, then drove off with the family’s 8-year-old daughter. The girl’s father chased the kidnapping Santa, who eventually stopped and turned over the uninjured girl. Police later found John Michael Barton, 55, hiding out in the utility room of a local bar. Apparently Barton had been playing Santa in the area for several weeks, posing for pictures with local children, and got carried away. He apologized to the family, saying he got “caught up” in his role.

2) Pedophile Hiding in the Bushes Santa

Another failed Santa Claus kidnapping occurred in 2009 in Parma, Ohio. Anthony Russo, 46, was dressed as in a red Santa suit and carrying a box of candy canes and a unicycle decorated with bows, bells, and a Santa gift bag. He jumped out of some bushes and began following a 12-year-old girl, whom he tried to grab several times. The girl got away and called police from a nearby convenience store. The Pedo Santa was arrested on a Cleveland bus, still in full costume.

3) Psycho 2×4 Santa

Christmas shopping got a little out-of-hand in Atlanta in 2004, when a man dressed as Santa attacked a 74-year-old woman with a 2×4 board at a shopping mall. Elkin Donnie Clarke told police he knocked the woman unconscious because she had taken 29 boxes of Hershey’s chocolates from him.

4) Swedish Robber Santa

A thief dressed as Santa seems to be doing fairly well for himself in Sweden. Santa and two of his helpers robbed a perfume store in Falkenberg, a garage in Hylte and a clothing store in  Kungsbacka, Sweden, in 2007. Each time the trio escaped in a different car: witnesses reported seeing a white Volvo, a silver Volvo and a blue Audi at the various crime scenes.

5) Nashville Bank Robber Santa

In Nashville Tennessee Santa Claus robbed a bank December 22, 2009. When bank officials asked Santa to remove his sunglasses, he pulled out a 9-millimeter handgun and demanded cash. Witnesses described the thief as “jovial” and heard him explain that he had to pay his elves.

6) DUI Santa

Santa works hard, so it’s not surprising he might want to relax with a little Christmas spirit once in a while. Unfortunately in Sparta, Wisconsin in 2009, Santa was cited for violating the state’s open container law. Witnesses called police after noticing an alleged drunken driver; Santa, aka 47-year-old Kevin Arnold,  was in the passenger seat. When the car stopped, Santa stumbled out of the car, hugged several nearby children and asked if they knew where his reindeer were.