Crime & Safety

'She Even Took the Cat': Man Describes Why He Dropped $1K on MOA Crowd

Apple Valley resident Serge Vorobyov said he'd had a tough year, including a divorce, and wanted to get things back on track by spreading holiday cheer.

When Apple Valley resident Serge Vorobyov dropped 1,000 dollar bills over a Mall of America railing while a choir performed "Let it Snow," people responded with as much confusion as excitement. Police certainly didn’t; they ticketed him for disorderly conduct before releasing him.

But to the 29-year-old, the decision makes perfect sense: He’s going through some rough times and thought some good karma could help his plight.

“I had a really tough year, and my story is that I just threw out my last $1,000. You know, I didn’t have enough money for a lot of things. And I’m going through a horrible divorce—and she even took the cat and won’t tell me where it is,” he said in a video blog posted to YouTube. “I thought I’d just spread some holiday cheer, be positive and kind of like pay it forward type of thing.”

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