In addition to the nasty return letters from Santa, here are two new recent, unrelated developments.
Handicapped Woman Gropes Santa
Brazilians Open Fire on Santa's Helicopter
Handicapped Woman Gropes Santa
Santa Claus says that a woman who sat on his lap was naughty, not nice. A Santa at the Danbury Fair mall said the woman groped him.
"The security officer at the mall said Santa Claus has been sexually assaulted," police Detective Lt. Thomas Michael said of the complaint.
Sandrama Lamy, 33, of Danbury, was charged with sexual assault and breach of peace in the weekend incident. She was released on a promise to appear in court on Jan. 3.
Police quickly found and identified Lamy because the woman was described as being on crutches, said Capt. Bob Myles.
A call seeking comment from Lamy was answered by a recording Tuesday morning. A woman later called back and said: "It's a false report and I don't have any idea."
Police did not give the name of the disconcerted Santa, but they said he is 65 and felt badly because children were waiting to see him. "He was apparently shocked and embarrassed by the whole incident," Myles said.
A man who teaches hundreds of prospective Santas a year "Santa Tim" Connaghan, president of RealSantas.com said he's never heard of a similar incident, though it's not unusual for adults to want to pose with Santa.
"I've had some very nice ladies sit on my lap," said Connaghan, who did not train the Danbury Fair Santa. "Once in a while they'll say 'I hope Mrs. Claus isn't going to be upset.' You have to be discreet and kind and say 'Oh no, she'll be OK. You can sit here, but only for one photo.'"
A spokeswoman for Cherry Hill Photo, the company that coordinates Santas for Danbury Fair, declined to comment Tuesday.
Brazilians Open Fire on Santa's Helicopter
Not even Santa Claus is safe as the violent Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro celebrates the Christmas season.
Drug traffickers in a Rio slum opened fire on a helicopter carrying a Santa to a children's party, apparently mistaking it for a police helicopter, police said on Tuesday.
"They thought it was a police operation and started shooting. Luckily, nobody was hurt," a police official said.
The helicopter had to return to its base after the attack.
Two bullet holes were found in its fuselage.
Police said the pilot, contracted to take an actor dressed as Santa to the party in the Nova Mare slum, was flying over the neighboring Vila Joao shantytown when it was fired upon on Sunday.
Santa later returned to Nova Mare by car to distribute Christmas presents.
Most of Rio's 700-plus slums are controlled by drug traffickers and are not regularly patrolled by police, who instead go into the slums in military-style raids, often using helicopters and armored vehicles.