TORONTO -- Police in Australia have arrested a man and a woman in a suburb of Melbourne for allegedly stealing a charity tin meant for victims of the bushfires ravaging large parts of the country, according to police and media reports.
A man and woman were recorded on CCTV entering a fast food restaurant and positioning themselves near the charity tin on Monday evening. Victoria police said the man swiped the tin and put it into the woman’s bag and left the store.
A 37-year-old man and 41-year-old woman who were arrested on Thursday evening are expected to be charged with theft.
The wildfires burning across Australia have sent thousands of people, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria, fleeing. The crisis has claimed at least 26 lives, destroyed more than 2,000 homes and scorched an area larger than the province of Nova Scotia, with some wildlife facing extinction as more than one billion animals have been killed.
With files from The Associated Press
