A Minnesota man desiring simply to “spread the love” and give some needy holiday shoppers some extra bucks now finds himself facing the ire of police who say his dump of $1,000 in bills over the second-floor railing at the Mall of America was foolish, short-sighted and downright dangerous.
Serge Vorobyov only planned to share “holiday cheer,” when he let go of the cash over the railing, while “Let It Snow” blared forth in the background. But in return, he was cited for disorderly conduct, The New York Daily News reported.
Mr. Vorobyov said he was feeling a bit down, facing an unhappy divorce, and thought the cash gift to the unsuspecting mall shoppers might be returned in the form of good karma in 2014.
So far, not so good. A mall spokesman said to CBS News that the man’s actions “could have caused a major disturbance and ended in someone getting hurt.”
In a video to explain his actions, posted online, Mr. Vorobyov said: “I had a really tough year. My story is that I just threw out my last thousand dollars. I don’t have enough money for a lot of things, and I’m going through a horrible divorce — she even took the cat and won’t tell me where it is. I thought I’d just spread some holiday cheer, be positive and kind of like pay it forward and make it snow money. I thought it’d be fun.”
The story didn’t specify when Mr. Vorobyov was due in court, or how much he had to pay for his citation.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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