Cold-hearted thief swipes charity jar

A man with sticky fingers Sunday stole a wad of cash in a jar placed in a gas station by a charity aimed at helping children with terminal illnesses, and then returned to spend some of the money.

The man, at about 7 a.m., entered Rimbaugh's Exxon gas station, on Route 23 near White Horse Road in Phoenixville, where he tucked a small, clear, money-filled bucket with a red lid under his jacket and left the store.

A surveillance video shows the man stashing the container in a light-colored Nissan and re-entering the store, where he made several purchases.

The theft was discovered by Steve Falk, a fundraiser for Rides for Kids, a charitable group that helps the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, when he came to collect the donations in the jar.

"Who would steal from a sick kid?" he asked.

Alarmed, Falk, a Daily News staff photographer, notified an employee and the two men identified the perpetrator. Falk esimated that about $50 had been taken.

The man was described as a light-skinned black man with a long ponytail and wearing a yellow Enyce coat.

Falk and his wife, Deneen, have been dropping off donation containers for sick children for four years. *