The holiday seasons can bring out the very best in people. But sometimes, it can also bring out the very worst. Below are some of the strangest crimes of Christmas, committed by real-life Grinches whose hearts never grew at all.
1. In 2014, a couple was arrested in Colorado Springs for theft of their neighbors’ Christmas decorations. The wife reported that every morning, around 2 or 3 am, her husband would go out for a walk. When she woke up, and after he had returned, there would be more decorations in their front and back yards. All told, the couple had reinstalled about $2,000.00 worth of Christmas decorations in their yard, just a few doors down. The nerve!
2. You’ve heard of Burning Man. Burning Goat might be something you’re not aware of. In 2013, for the 27th time, Swedish vandals burned down a giant straw goat which symbolized the Christmas spirit. A 43-foot high, 3.6 ton straw goat was lit on fire, and is fast becoming a tradition that’s nearly as old as the goat itself, which has been taking place since 1966.
3. Nothing is sacred anymore. In Italy, four ‘mafia gangsters’ were arrested in 2013 over a Christmas extortion scam. Believe it or not, these gangsters were forcing shop owners to buy poinsettias for jacked up prices – up to 100 times the whole sale price, demanding $140 for each plant. If the shops refused to accept the deal, their shops were vandalized.
4. You have to hand it to these guys for their creativity. In 2012, a vehicle was pulled over on the Ohio Turnpike one morning. After a drug-sniffing dog indicated there was contraband, police searched the vehicle, finding 30 pounds of hydroponic marijuana disguised as wrapped up Christmas presents. The haul was worth an estimated $192,000.00. No wonder Santa always wants some milk and cookies at night.
5. Here is a story of a true Ebenezer Scrooge if I have ever heard one. The town of Kingston, Ontario holds a Santa Clause parade every November. In 2015, a man got belligerently drunk, slicked his hair with gel into the shape of devil horns, and made it his personal mission to announce to every child he could find that Santa does not exist. The police were called and he was arrested for causing a disturbance, public intoxication and violating his probation. You know what they say about karma.
6. Finally, this one just might warm your heart. In 2011, a Dayton, Ohio man got high on bath salts. Instead of eating his neighbor’s face, as one is wont to do on bath salts, he waltzed into the back door of his neighbor’s house and decorated it for Christmas. He lit candles and arranged them on tables, hung a Christmas wreath on the garage door and blared the television while playing with the toys under the tree. What a thoughtful junkie.
