An Arlington thief got that whole Christmas giving thing a little backward, well, at lot backward … OK, completely backward on Monday night.
He took a Salvation Army red kettle, the kind used for collecting holiday contributions, right from under the nose of a bell-ringer. Had he really wanted to do something to benefit the community he’d have stolen the bell.
But this wasn’t an act of community service. It was entirely self-serving, and Salvation Army officials estimate the charity group lost between $150 and $200, which could have purchased a fair number of turkey dinners for the less-fortunate.
According to a news release issued by the Salvation Army, police found the kettle about a block away from the Walgreens location from which it was stolen, and an eyewitness provided information deemed lead-worthy by police, so the thief might well have his Christmas karma served up soon, very soon.
Perhaps the most surprising thing to come from all of this is the fact that the Salvation Army release included a pager number for the PR guy, and who carries a pager anymore?
Bruce Felps owns and operates East Dallas Times, an online community news outlet serving the White Rock Lake area. He had a pager once back in the day when he worked for a courier service. The pager ended up out his car window and on the street behind him.
