CHARLOTTE -- Robbers stole 13 Salvation Army kettles from a secret counting station in west Charlotte on Friday night, making off with an estimated $4,000 that was meant to buy presents for children this Christmas.
Three Salvation Army employees were forced to the ground at gunpoint, officials with the charity organization said, but no shots were fired, and no one was injured in the robbery.
No arrests have been made, though police had been searching for the robbers since late Friday and even launched the department's helicopter.
Salvation Army leaders were outraged.
The robbers "aren't stealing from the Salvation Army, nor are they stealing from the donors who gave money," said Jim Price, a Salvation Army spokesman. "They're stealing from the people who would receive the benefit of the $4,000 that we don't have now."
Bell ringers in 76 Charlotte locations collect money in the kettles six days a week from before Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve. At night, Price said, collectors drive around and pick up the red kettles, and the money is counted at centralized locations. Some of the money goes to Christmas presents. The rest helps finance the Salvation Army's shelter.
The robbery happened around 10:15 p.m. at a business in west Charlotte that was being used to count money from kettles at many locations across south Charlotte.
Only a handful of Salvation Army employees know the secret location, and officials believe the robbers may have followed a kettle collector to the business Friday night.
Two men wearing black bandannas around their faces and carrying guns got out of a green Jeep Cherokee as the Salvation Army workers were bringing the buckets into the business, police said. The robbers forced the employees into the building and made them lie face down on the floor, Price said. Then they took the kettles and left.
Salvation Army officials say they have increased their security measures since the robbery.
Police say there were two robbers. The first was described as a black man, 5-foot-10, average build with a black hood. He was wearing sunglasses, a hoodie and a black bandana around his face with skulls on it.
The second suspect was also a black man, 6-foot-4, roughly 240 pounds. He was wearing a black hoodie and a black bandana around his face. Police say the men got away in a green Jeep Cherokee.
Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600. Tipsters are eligible for rewards for information that leads to an arrest.
