Man steals kettle from Salvation Army bell-ringer

WASILLA — The tall, lanky thief sat and talked with Salvation Army bell ringer Bob Aubrey for a few minutes on a bench in the vestibule of the local Walmart.

The man said he needed some money because he and his wife needed gas, Aubrey said. It was about 6 p.m. Wednesday, and the bell ringers were just about to change shifts (Aubrey normally starts work as the bell ringer about 10 a.m.).

“He was just hanging around, doing the regular husband thing,” Aubrey said.

Then, right as Aubrey turned to hand peppermint candy to some children who had donated money, the man jumped to his feet, unclipped the kettle from its tripod and ran off.

“It took him less than 10 seconds to be out the door with it,” Aubrey recalled on Thursday during his shift at Walmart.

Aubrey said he didn’t even consciously decide to follow the man (Salvation Army policy is to turn over the kettle in the event of possible injury). He just sprinted.

“I grew up old-fashioned, you know, Boy Scout, all that jazz, I’m a farm boy,” he said. “You don’t tolerate stealing period, especially when it’s donations to buy toys from kids. How low do you have to be to steal from kids, man?”

A worker at a nearby construction site spotted Aubrey's attempt to catch the thief and joined in the chase. They followed the man through the Valley Fun Center construction site and into the Valley Cinema parking lot, where Aubrey says the man jumped into a waiting 1990s-era powder blue dented pick-up truck and sped off.

“He had a getaway driver waiting,” he said.

The escape was heart-breaking for Aubrey, who is unusually enthusiastic about bell ringing. He typically brings his own MP3 player stocked with Christmas carols, which he plays over a portable speaker while singing along and dancing. In order to catch the eyes of bustling shoppers in past years, he’s dressed as the Riddler, and was thinking about dressing as Iron Man this year — replete with a costume including glowing lights.

Aubrey grew up as a child of divorce, and times were sometimes tough. He’s been ringing bells as a paid bell-ringer for three years. Ringing is a way to give back to an organization that helped his family many times over the years, Aubrey said.

“Without them I wouldn't have had too many Christmases growing up,” he said.

Salvation Army officials aren’t sure how much money the thief made off with, said Capt. Jeff Josephson. They have a pretty good guess — “hundreds,” according to a Salvation Army press release — but they aren’t releasing the projected amount until the Wasilla Police Department, which is investigating the theft, tells them it’s appropriate.

It’s the first kettle theft in at least two years since Josephson has been in Alaska, though thefts do sometimes happen: at least a half-dozen have occurred nationwide within the last week, according to various news reports.

Still, Josephson said, it’s unusual for Alaska.

“It’s not the majority that do this, especially here in Alaska,” he said. “The folks in Alaska are so generous and so giving and absolutely interested in their fellow man’s well-being.”

Charity theft is laced with irony; the money will ultimately be given away, after all. However, the Salvation Army’s work is more all-encompassing than a simple hand-out, Josephson said.

“The Salvation Army has a history of giving hope,” he said. “We absolutely do the best we can do. If somebody needs us, they just need to ask. This is like a one-time snatch-and-grab. When you partner up with the Salvation Army in your life, that relationship can last for years. It can absolutely stabilize the family. We help people up.”

Despite the incident, Aubrey says he’s more cautious — but not more suspicious. He likes helping people.

“It’s one of those things that makes me feel good doing it,” he said.

Wasilla police spokesman Dan Bennett said police were investigating the matter.

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com or on Twitter @reporterbriano.