The State - News from Dec. 18, 1986

A man dressed as Santa Claus walked into two Bay Area fire stations and stole $100 worth of Christmas toys collected for poor children, authorities said. “We were a little suspicious, because this guy came in here and never said, ‘Ho, ho, ho,’ ” said Tony Connell, a firefighter in Newark, about 30 miles south of San Francisco. Connell said the impostor told him that he came for the Toys for Tots presents. In the program, donors bring new, unwrapped toys to fire stations, which collect them for the Marines, who in turn distribute them to needy children. When Connell told the Santa that there were only a few presents in the station, firefighters from another nearby station overheard him and said there were more at their station and provided Santa with directions.