TALLAPOOSA, Ga. — A Tallapoosa woman has been arrested and will be charged with theft after surveillance video captured her stealing a wounded toddler's donation jar.
The video showed a blond woman entering Robinson Discount Grocery store in Tallapoosa on Friday afternoon. She paid for a pack of gum and snatched the jar when the clerk wasn't looking.
Woman Arrested For Stealing Toddler Donation Jar
"She directed me up here to Tylenol. I turned away for a moment and in that moment she took jar and put it into purse," said store clerk Barbara Grentacosti.
The jar was for a 2-year-old named Zoey. She was hospitalized after being hit by a train last month.
Neighbors have been helping her family pay for hospital expenses coin-by-coin with collection jars at local businesses.
"This child needs the help. We know she's in really bad shape. She needs the money," said neighbor Myrtle Summerville.
Woman Steals Money For Injured Child Neighbors raised money Zoey's hospital bills using collection jars stamped with the 2-year-old's photo.
The jar had less than $20 in it, but outraged residents said that isn't the point.
"I know the economy is bad, but that's no excuse for stealing," said Bradley Wright.
Tallapoosa Assistant Chief Terry Parker told Channel 2 Action News that they have arrested Barbara Green in connection with the theft. Parker said she admitted that it was her in the video, but that she has no recollection of the incident.