RICHMOND, Va. -- Chesterfield County police now say that a report of 300 new coats being stolen from an area Salvation Army center was a mistake.
A Salvation Army volunteer reported to police this morning that the coats had not been stolen from storage, as staff had earlier reported. Instead, they had already been put on hangers and given out to clients, said Jeff Baldwin, a spokesman for the Salvation Army.
“It appears no theft ever occurred,” said Lt. Tim Smith of the Chesterfield police department. “Unless something comes up, we think it was just a mistake.”
The employee who made the initial theft report noticed that the coats were not where they should have been, in a group of shopping carts in a cordoned off area of the distribution center. But volunteers had actually placed the coats on hangers and dispersed them to citizens, Smith said.
“It appears it’s a misunderstanding,” he said.
They initially had reported that 1,000 coats -- including 300 new ones -- had been stolen last weekend. But later yesterday, they said their initial report to police was wrong, and that only the new coats had been taken from the Salvation Army distribution center on Midlothian Turnpike. The new coats were distributed last year and stored until this holiday season.
The Salvation Army has provided toys, clothes and other items to 10,000 children in central Virginia this year.
Contact Chris I. Young at (804) 649-6754 or cyoung@timesdispatch.com.
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