A Berlin Christmas market was infiltrated by a naughty Santa imposter Saturday, Fox News reported. The man dressed in Santa Claus clothes offered two teen girls shots of alcohol. One refused. The one who partook of two shots ended up hospitalized after ingesting what police suspect was a date rape drug.
There have been several other druggings at various Berlin Christmas markets this year committed by a man dressed in street clothes inviting revelers to drink with him to celebrate the birth of his child. Police have not determined whether this man is the naughty Santa imposter.
Criminals have disguised themselves as Santa Claus before:
* In 2008, a man dressed as Santa Claus killed nine people at a Christmas party on the eve of the holiday, then killed himself, according to CNN.
* Nearly 100 allegedly intoxicated, fully-costumed Santas created a disturbance at a SantaCon mall gathering in Dayton, Ohio, last year, according to Radar Online. Two were arrested.
* One bank robber trying to pin his crime on Santa Claus last year didn’t try too hard to impersonate him. Instead of a full Santa suit and sleigh, Jacksonville.com said, he wore a Santa hat and escaped in a silver sedan.
* A man whom police dubbed “the Santa Claus burglar” in Seattle last year didn’t bother to dress like Santa. As described in the Seattle Times, he acquired the moniker after copying Santa’s modus operandi, entering homes through chimneys. But unlike Santa, Shon Michael Shanell got stuck.
* A year earlier, the New York Post reported Wayne Corliss, a man who had often dressed as Santa Claus for children’s parties, was arrested on charges of traveling to Thailand for illicit sex with minors.
* In Parma, Ohio, in 2009, a man dressed as Santa Claus was charged with trying to kidnap a child walking to school, Fox News said. He was carrying a bag of candy and a unicycle.
* In a variation on the bad Santa theme, an errant elf got into hot water with police in 2009. MSNBC reported the 45-year-old man dressed in an elf costume got in line to have his picture taken with Santa at a mall in Morrow, Georgia. When his turn came, he told Santa he had a bag of dynamite.
* Sometimes Santa is wrongfully accused. Last Christmas a bartender who stole money from the till at the East Providence Yacht Club tried to pin the crime on Santa. According to the East Providence Patch, she claimed that the jolly old elf was armed with a gun. Further investigation led to charges against bartender Christal Johnson. Club owner Mikel Perry went out of his way to ask the press to clear Santa’s good name.