Holiday Grinches: Hurling Soda Bottles, Stealing Frosty, Eating Lights

As the clock ticks closer to Christmas, the holiday spirit was nowhere to be seen at a few places where police responded this week.

One woman grew so irritated at a long wait and cash register error while buying gas, soda and two bratwurst at Open Pantry, that she hurled the 20-ounce bottles at the clerk, hitting her in the leg, police reports say.

She yelled at the clerk and threw her money on the counter, walking out without the soda or brats.

The clerk was no injured in the holiday exchange about 3 p.m. Thursday. But the 23-year-old customer will be receiving an extra piece of mail with her holiday cards: a municipal citation for disorderly conduct.

A thief's heart was cold when he or she (or they?) stole a Frosty the Snowman decoration from the front yard of a home in the 17500 block of Patricia Lane Friday.

The police officer who responded made a little merry with his report, writing that the 4-foot-tall plastic snowman with a black top hat and lights was "similar in appearance to the ever popular and iconic figure Frosty the Snowman."

A silver lining? The owner wasn't out a pricey loss. He said the decoration retails for as much as $30 to $50. But he paid about $7 for it.

One of the most despised holiday jobs has got to be putting up lights — and making sure they work. So when a Nassau Drive man had his outdoor Christmas lights vandalized twice in a week, it was enough to call police.

The first time he thought maybe it was a prank, so he didn't call. When police responded to check for evidence, they thought they found the culprit: a rodent was chewing the wires.

Drat, what a rat.