Police say a local man stole a red Salvation Army donation kettle when he and a friend were walking around Nashville.
Michael D. Allison, 38, of Helmsburg, was charged with theft, a Class A misdemeanor, on Feb. 9.
Nashville Police Officer Kyle Seward responded to the Salvation Army on Oct. 3 after an employee reported that a kettle had been stolen from outside the building the day prior and the crime was caught on the security tape.
The video showed two men walking around the kettle at about 5 p.m. One man grabbed the kettle and looked into it before standing off to the side. The other man, Allison, also walked up and looked into the kettle. Then he took the lock off and removed the kettle from its stand, the police report said.
Allison placed the kettle under his sweatshirt and the two men walked away toward Washington Street.
Seward said he recognized Allison; he had seen him working at a local restaurant.
Allison’s boss told Seward that Allison had worked the day of the theft, but he wasn’t working at the time the theft occurred. The boss identified the second man as another employee; he told Seward the two were roommates.
On Nov. 3, Seward interviewed the second man who said that the two no longer lived together. He said he had moved out shortly after the theft.
After watching the security footage, the man confirmed it was him and Allison in the video.
He told Seward that he did not report the theft because he was scared of Allison. He said he later saw the kettle in Allison’s apartment in a garbage bag.
The man said he knew Allison had stolen money from other parking lots to pay for rent, but wasn’t sure how much.
