Brandon police say drunk, would-be Santa busted for doling out stolen Christmas trees

An “extremely intoxicated” man in Brandon has earned himself a court date after police say he was caught with a shopping cart full of stolen Christmas trees Sunday night.

Police told 680 CJOB the would-be Santa Claus stole almost a dozen ornamental trees from the Superstore on Victoria Avenue and went for a walk, distributing the trees on random lawns in the area.

Officers were able to follow a trail of decorations and took the 33-year-old into custody, lodging him overnight at Brandon Correctional Centre.

Brandon police Sgt. Kirby Sararas said when officers caught up to the man, he was too drunk to be released immediately.

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“I have no idea what his motivation was – he obviously didn’t mean to keep the Christmas trees,” she said.

“I really don’t know if he was trying to spread Christmas cheer, but the proper way to do that would obviously be to have purchased the Christmas trees and then distributed them, but that’s obviously not the case here.”

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The man has been charged with theft under $5,000, and will be appearing in Brandon court Dec. 27.