Mall Santa arrested after "Christmas in July" brawl

A Delaware mall Santa has been arrested following a public brawl.

For shoppers at Christiana Mall in Newark, Delaware, what was meant to be a festive “Christmas in July” celebration turned into a spectacle of violence after a mall Santa decked more than a shopper’s halls.

29 year old Calvin Carlson was arrested by Newark police following a physical altercation with a mall patron.

Witnesses say that Carlson, who was hired by the mall to play Santa Claus, had been entertaining a group of children in the food court when he spotted the patron eating at a nearby table. Carlson began screaming obscenities, and eventually approached the patron. Parents attempted to calm Carlson down and de-escalate the situation, but Carlson continued his verbal tirade against the man, claiming that the man owed him a large sum of money and even bragging that he had sexual intercourse with the man’s daughter.

“He was going nuts,” said Melanie N., who was at the mall with her young children when the incident occurred. “He was screaming all kinds of nasty stuff, all in front of the kids too.”

Carlson then began throwing a flurry of punches at the patron, and at one point assaulted him with a decorative candy cane. After bystanders were able to separate the two, Carlson attempted to leave the mall, but was apprehended by police who were responding to the disturbance.

The recipient of Carlson’s outburst, 32 year old Steve Gignac, had no idea what led to him being put on the mall Santa’s naughty list, and was confused by the entire incident.

“I’m sitting there eating my lunch when I hear someone yelling,” Gignac said. “I look up, and it’s Santa Claus, and he’s yelling at me.”

Gignac told police that he had never met Carlson before the incident, nor did he owe him any money. Gignac said he tried to explain this to Carlson, but Carlson wouldn’t listen.

“I’m telling him, ‘How do I owe you money? I don’t even know you!’, but the guy wasn’t listening, he didn’t want to hear it. He’s screaming about [expletive] my daughter. I don’t even have a daughter.”

Instead of coal in his stocking, Gignac received several strikes to the face, resulting in minor injuries, including a broken nose and multiple cuts.

Gignac believes this was a case of mistaken identity, but police say that Carlson was on a mix of drugs at the time of the attack, which led to his erratic behavior. A drug test revealed that Carlson had PCP and methamphetamine in his system. Additionally, officers found a small bag of white powder on Carlson’s person, which was later confirmed to be cocaine.

Carlson remains behind bars pending charges, while Gignac was treated on the scene for his injuries.

Despite his injuries, Gignac remained festive and merry, joking about the incident.

“I still have no idea what happened. I just know that I was jumped by Santa. I told my boys they’d better behave this year, because that’s what happens when you end up on Santa’s naughty list.”

Troy Jackson

Troy Jackson is AJnet Magazine’s resident journalist and lead correspondent for the AJnet Newsroom, your source for (un)reliable reporting and completely real (fake) news stories. A Rutgers graduate with absolutely no journalism experience, he routinely fabricates stories that aren’t even remotely true.

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