A Doylestown woman has been charged with theft after returning a Santa Claus statue she’s accused of stealing from a Barberton movie theater following a complaint she had with service there.
Barberton Municipal Court has issued a summons for the 45-year-old woman. The charge is a first-degree misdemeanor.
According to police reports, the woman took the 2-foot cloth statue from near an exit door as she was leaving Lake Cinema 8 on Thursday night. Police asked the Barberton Herald to post security camera images of the woman on Facebook, and she returned the statue to the theater on Monday — four days after allegedly taking it — following a storm of social media activity. The posts about the stolen statue were shared hundreds of times.
“When she returned it, she told the person working that she didn’t mean to take it,” Detective Bob Russell said. “How you can take a Santa Claus statue accidentally is beyond me.”
Russell said the woman also complained to theater management after her visit on Thursday. Managers appeased her with passes to see a movie for free at a later date.
“So not only did she get free passes,” the detective said, “but she also took Santa with her.”
The woman is not being identified because the Beacon Journal typically doesn’t name people charged with misdemeanors.
A patron who shared a theater with the alleged thief told the Beacon Journal that the woman and two children, who were about 10 years old, were disruptive during a movie. The patron, Jessica Colbetzor, said she and her friend complained to theater management, who ejected the alleged thief and the children from the movie.
Mark Budnick, one of the theater’s managers, said security cameras captured the woman stealing the statue as she left the cinema. He said she “had the guts and audacity” to return later and complain that her children had been reprimanded. That’s when another manager appeased her with free passes.
“What the manager on duty didn’t know was she had already taken Santa,” Budnick said.
The woman returned the statue after commenters on Facebook lobbed insults and accusations about her.
Budnick said workers caught the woman on Monday — the day after Christmas — trying to return the statue stealthily.
“She said obviously she felt ashamed and guilty,” Budnick said. “We’re just glad to have Santa back.”
The statue was one of five sitting near an exit. It was accompanied by four elf statues, which were left untouched.
Budnick said he’s unsure how old the statues are or what they’re worth. They were used at a display in the city at some point and the cinema inherited them for decoration a few years ago.
“To be honest, I’m surprised no one’s tried taking them before,” he said. “We’ve got security cameras, but they’re sitting right there in the open.”
A few people on social media expressed glee that the woman did the right thing in the end.
“At least she did the right thing and brought it back. Most wouldn’t have,” one woman said. “Then again, most people wouldn’t steal a Santa in the first place.”
Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ and on Facebook @JournoNickGlunt .