Police seek kettle thieves
Police in McDonald are looking for this pair in connection with the theft of a Salvation Army donation kettle from a convenience store.
A view of the man McDonald police say stole a Salvation Army kettle from a convenience store.
McDonald police are looking for a grinch who stole a Salvation Army kettle placed at a convenience store to collect donations to assist the less fortunate during the Christmas season.
The kettle was snatched from the counter at TJ’s Deli Mart, 357 E. Lincoln Ave., just before 8 p.m. Friday by a man who only moments before was a customer inside the store.
The clerk told Officers Michael Dhanse and Richard France the alleged thief earlier was in the store, talking about problems with people in society. He then put a drink on the counter, walked over and looked at the candy display before eventually putting the drink back, making another selection and paying for it. A woman who appears to be with the alleged thief also looks inside a cooler before they both leave the store.
“Three minutes later, he runs back up to the door, grabs the kettle as fast as possible and then runs,” Dhanse said. “The kettle had a handle, so it made it easy to grab.”
The amount of money inside the kettle was not known. Dhanse said it is unclear if the two got into a vehicle, but surveillance video from a business two doors away does not show anyone walking past.
The clerk told police the two may have been in the store in the past. Residents of the area who have seen the photographs from the surveillance video said the woman looked familiar, but they did not recognize either as being from the area.
The man was wearing a baseball cap, and the woman wore a Vans sweatshirt.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 724-926-2105.