OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla., Dec. 5, 1978: Police are on the look-out for Santa after
dozens of fans attending a Moody Blues concert paid him to park their cars in a
lot near the auditorium. When they returned, they found their cars had been
towed because it wasn't a parking lot, and Santa didn't own
it.
MARINETTE, Wis., Nov. 17, 1980: Firefighters responded to an
emergency call at the Dome Motor Inn where they found Santa Claus stuck in the
chimney. It took half an hour to free him.
CAPE JUNCTION, Ore., Dec. 21,
1980: Santa was cited by wildlife officials for exhibiting three blacktail deer
in a Christmas display without a permit. Said Santa, "I doubt if the handful of
children standing around yesterday will ever forget the time they saw Santa
Claus get a ticket."
LONDON, December 1981: Santa Claus landed in a
magistrate's court for
punching a teen-ager who had sprayed him with foam. "I
told the kid to go away, but he wouldn't listen," Santa said, "so I gave him a
clip around the ear."
LONDON, Dec. 3, 1981: Two Santas were hauled before
a magistrate after getting into a fistfight when they both showed up on the same
street corner to sell merchandise. Said the arresting officer, Constable Derek
Spencer, "The fur was really flying."
EVERETT, Wash., December 1982: A
department store took away Santa's job on the grounds that he was a she. The Bon
store insisted Mr. Claus could only be a lesser paid Mrs. Claus. A woman Santa
was too confusing for kids, the store said. Santa objected. Children don't mind
a female Santa Claus, she said, "because when you get into a Santa suit, all
they see is your nose and eyes."
CHARLESTON, W. Va., December 1982: A
"greetings" company announced its newest offering for the holiday season: a
stripping Santa Claus. For a mere $10 a minute, Santa would go to Christmas
parties and shuck off his red suit, white beard and black boots until he is down
to Santa's bikini briefs. "He's just gorgeous," said Sandy Sowell, president of
Best Wishes. "I'm sure he'll go over big, if you know what I
mean."
PENSACOLA, Fla., December 1982: Santa Claus sued the mall that
fired him, charging religious discrimination. Santa said he was
Jewish.
CHATHAM, England, Dec. 19, 1983: Santa was hauled away after he
aimed a punch at a young visitor to "Santa's Grotto." Police said Santa was
riled by what he considered the boy's cheekiness and swung on him. The kid
ducked, and Santa hit the next boy in line. "Unfortunately," a store spokesman
said, "Santa lost his cool."
WAUKENGAN, Ill., Dec. 9, 1995: Santa Claus
was arrested at the Lakehurst Mall after slugging a supervisor at a shopping
center. Assistant State's Attorney George Strickland said the supervisor
objected to Santa's practice of instructing kids to say, "School sucks," while
having their pictures taken with him. After the supervisor told him to knock it
off, Santa clocked him.
