Santa Claus almost gets arrested at New Hampshire school

A school in New Hampshire cancelled recess and warned parents about a threatening stranger after a man dressed up as Santa Claus showed up on the premises and began tapping on windows and waving to students.

Police came to Hollis Primary School to deal with the strange St. Nick, but he had already left by the time they arrived.

After other area schools were warned about the scary Santa, the man contacted police to identify himself and inform officers that he was simply trying to “spread some holiday cheer.”

“He just thought it would be a cool holiday thing for the kids to see Santa wave through the window,” said Lt. Rich Mello. “He kind of set off a firestorm of precautions.”

Superintendent Dr. John Moody is taking the incident very seriously because the man was actually able to briefly enter the school.

“There were some serious violations of our protocol relative to visitors to the school,” Moody said. “We cannot accept anyone we do not recognize into the building. There were certainly things that should have been done differently.”

Following Santa’s surprise visit, Moody met with staff to review school policies.

“It’s pretty sad we live in a world now that you have to be vigilant and cautious about anything that’s out of the ordinary or a little strange. It’s very sad,” Mello said. “Back in the ’80s, this wouldn’t have been on anybody’s radar.”

[The Nashua Telegraph]