LOUISVILLE, Ky., Nov. 22 (UPI) -- A former Salvation Army worker suspected of stealing $30,000 in Christmas toys for poor children surrendered on Friday but denied that he was a Grinch.
Orville Walter Jr., 51, turned himself over to a television reporter after police issued a warrant for his arrest.
"No, I didn't steal anything," Walter told WHAS-TV. "No, not a Mickey Mouse, not nothing."
Walter, who was fired from his job as a maintenance worker for the Salvation Army, charged the accusations were leveled at him because of a lawsuit he had filed against the charity over its treatment of black employees.
The toys missing from a storage warehouse were intended for some of the 5,200 needy families with more than 11,000 children on the charity's list.
Thursday night, someone returned $1,500 worth of the stolen toys to several workers outside a Salvation Army building, saying that he had gotten the toys from the person who stole them. The workers took down the person's license plate number and police traced it to Walter.
The Salvation Army said about 2,000 toys stored in 45 appliance-size boxes had been stolen. They had last been seen on Nov. 10.
The theft spurred community action. An alderman donated $5,000 and promised to raise $10,000 more from colleagues, Churchill Downs organized a toy drive for Nov. 30 and the Target department store chain agreed to donate a $1,000 shopping spree.
