Last Saturday night, while channel surfing, I happened to catch the last 30 minutes of “Home Alone”. It is hard to believe that it has been 18 years since this holiday classic was released. I still laugh at the slapstick comedy used as McCauley Culkin terrorizes the “Wet Bandits” who try to break into his house.
They mistakenly believe it will be a snap since the little kid is home alone. While the movie has some hilarious moments and ends well, the truth is there really are a lot of criminals preying on others during the holiday season.
With the weak economy, it”s no surprise that crime is up for the 2008 holiday season. Crime categories like shoplifting and theft have really jumped this year. One of the more unexpected theft objects was Christmas trees. Police in Florida investigated a rash of tree thefts from one lot.
The proprietor said that thieves made off with more than 20 trees. Cops in Baytown, Texas caught a man trying to steal several trees at one time. And, in Portland, Oregon the police came across a man dragging a stolen tree down a street at 3 a.m. How can a person”s conscience allow them to put up a stolen Christmas tree in their house?
For some reason, Christmas brings out the vandals, too. I imagine they are usually bored teenagers. But, they do a lot of damage, not just physically, but mentally. People seem to lose faith in their fellow humans when they become the target of Christmas decoration vandals. In Ohio, two teens were arrested for stabbing a huge, inflatable Frosty the Snowman.
All the owner could say was, “Why me and why Frosty?” It”s a good question. That particular Frosty had survived two other stabbing attacks. The inflatable characters are also frequently stolen. I don”t know if the thieves take them and put them up in their own yard, or steal them just to deprive the owner of the character(s). I have friends in New Mexico whose whole set of inflatables was taken.
In my mind, one of the most untouchable targets, even for conscience deprived thieves and vandals, should be nativity scenes.
Instead, they seem to be a prime mark. In Chicago, 32 plastic baby Jesus dolls were stolen from outdoor nativities in one night. In early December a 19-year-old North Carolina college student was charged with destroying all of the life-sized plastic nativity figures in a family”s front yard. I did read of one nativity scene crime for which I hope no one pressed charges.
In a German town, a homeless man was arrested for stealing the clothes off the three wise men in a town square nativity. He was just trying to stay warm.
There were some odd holiday crimes, as well. In South Carolina a man was arrested for driving while intoxicated. The partaking of spirits during the holiday season isn”t unusual, but Allen Rodgers was behind the wheel of the Steppin” Out Dance Studio Christmas parade float.
He ran a red light and led the police on a three-mile chase, all with 19 people on board the festively decorated float. He may not be steppin” out for a while.
Unfortunately, there are always some very serious crimes committed that are holiday related. A Grinch-like Daniel Rios stole $14,000 in staff bonus money from the safe of his own company, during the Christmas party, no less.
He spent all the cash, but they did get some checks back. A South Carolina Santa impersonator on a motorcycle abducted an 8-year-old girl at a convenience store. The girl”s father saw him speeding away when he walked out of the store. After a long, high-speed chase the phony Santa finally pulled over and turned the girl over to her father. The abductor was later arrested, while hiding out in a bar.
Whatever happened to “Peace on Earth, goodwill toward men.”?
Gary Dickson is the publisher of the Record-Bee. He can be reached at gdickson@record-bee.com or called direct at 263-5636 ext. 24.
