The State - News from Dec. 21, 1986

A man dressed as St. Nick who took about $100 worth of Christmas toy donations from two San Francisco Bay Area fire stations turned out to be a man who just “wanted to be Santa Claus,” police said. “I wouldn’t say he stole the toys,” Newark Fire Chief Dennis Leonesio said. “He was playing Santa and wanted some toys for his bag.” Police in Newark had treated the case as a burglary and described the suspect as wearing a white beard, red pants, fireman “turnout” boots and a red jacket with bells on the belt. But when they located Mark Brager, 40, a transient who calls himself “the Hitchhiking Santa,” they did not arrest him. He returned the donations for the Marine Corps’ “Toys for Tots” program, except for a stuffed poodle, which he gave to a little girl.