Bandit Steals Salvation Army Kettle

As robberies go, the take likely wasn’t huge. But the bandit stole good will and maybe a little of the peace on earth along with the cash.

A man snatched a Salvation Army bell ringer’s kettle of donations out of her arms over the weekend.

Police say the 43-year-old Salvation Army employee had finished her shift outside Kmart about 5 p.m. Saturday and was walking to her car in the Spotsylvania Crossing Shopping Center when a man ran up and snatched the kettle. The victim suffered a sprained wrist.

“That’s like robbing elderly people or little children,” Spotsylvania County sheriff’s Maj. Howard Smith said Monday. “You can’t get much worse than stealing people’s donations at Christmastime.”

The Fredericksburg Salvation Army has about a dozen bell ringers outside stores this season. Its “Red Kettle” program helps buy Christmas dinners and puts toys under trees for underprivileged families in the area.

Detectives were still searching for the robber Monday. They don’t know how much money he made off with because the kettle donations had not been counted, Smith said.