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Suspect Boosted Toys For Tot Donation Box, Claimed He Needed Money For Diapers: Report

toys for tots
Source: MEGA; Marion County Sheriff's Office

Dec. 18 2022, Published 3:06 p.m. ET

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A Florida man is accused of boosting a Toys for Tots donation box from a Florida store earlier this month, according to a report.

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Recently, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in Florida arrested William Thomas Smith in connection to the case, according to the Ocala News.

Around 2:45 p.m. on Dec. 4, a store manager spoke to a sheriff’s deputy and said a man was seen sliding the box, which was filled with money, to the edge of a counter in a Dollar General. The suspect then put the box under a baby carrier that was in his cart.

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Police determined there was about $800 worth of donations in the box, according to the report.

A few days later, a tipster told police Smith was their suspect and he slept in the woods.

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Deputies identified Smith as the suspect and went to the area he lived, according to the Ocala News. A witness said Smith came home from the Dollar General with the money, but she didn’t know where it came from.

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Smith was arrested and admitted to the theft, according to the report. He said he needed the money to buy diapers and the box had $18 in it. He said he threw the donation bin into the garbage.

Police charged Smith with second-degree petit theft and possession of drug paraphernalia.

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