Helen Delich Bentley rescues Harford County Toys for Tots for Christmas.

HELEN DELICH BENTLEY
RAISES OVER $1,200
FOR TOYS FOR TOTS

Retired Maryland Congresswoman
replaces stolen Xmas merchandise
from Harford County warehouse
 
Former Maryland Congresswoman Helen Delich Bentley, who has long been known for her salty language and Ebenezer Scrooge demeanor, performed a modern-day Christmas miracle this holiday week when she helped restore more than $1,000 worth of gifts stolen from a Toys for Tots warehouse in Edgewood.

Upon hearing the sad news of the unconscionable robbery the nonagenarian ex-reporter/editor of the Baltimore Sun sprung into action with a speed virtually unknown in politics and journalism, by calling friends and associates and getting them to replace the stolen gifts that were intended for needy children.

“We want all of those youngsters to have a very Merry Christmas,” Bentley told WMAR and WBAL-TV at an impromptu press conference at her home in Dulaney Valley, a Lutherville/Timonium neighborhood where she has lived for more than 50 years.

The theft occurred in Harford County, an area that is part of the Congressional District Bentley represented in Washington D.C. for a decade in the mid-1980s and early-to-mid ‘90s.

“There’s a special place for somebody who would steal from kids at Christmas and we have one for them here at the Harford County Detention Center when we catch them,” Sheriff’s Office Maj. William Davis declared.

The theft was hauntingly similar to that perpetrated by a former Baltimore Mayor who was convicted nearly six years ago of stealing a like amount of Christmas gift cards meant for needy children in the state’s largest city.

That former mayor is now the front-runner to replace the woman who succeeded her in the Mayor’s Office when she was forced to resign as part of a plea deal that kept her out of jail in 2010.

The toys that went missing in Edgewood included 40-50 Hess toy trucks — “collectibles [that] can be worth [a] significant amount of money” — as well as a three-foot Darth Vader action figure, Major Davis said.

Although Bentley originally sought only to replace the estimated $1,000 worth of toys stolen, within minutes she raised over $1,200.

According to the Harford County Sheriff’s Office there were no signs of forced entry at the Toys for Tots warehouse, and they’re investigating everyone who may have had access to the building.

“In a matter of minutes, we raised $1,000 and we ended up with $200 over that amount,” Bentley said.

“So I feel very very happy. We want all of those youngsters to have a very Merry Christmas.”
 
WATCH VIDEO OF BENTLEY’S NEWS CONFERENCE — click here
 
— Alan Z. Forman
 
alforman@voiceofbaltimore.org