‘Grinch Who Tried To Steal Christmas’ Charged With Robbery, Battery on Senior, Forgery and Grand Theft

Heather Nelson demanded $500 'Christmas bonus' from the victim; assaulted, robbed 83-year-old woman

BREVARD COUNTY • FLORIDA — While Christmas has come and gone, it didn’t stop the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office General Crimes Agents from playing Grinch by arresting the real Grinch who tried to steal Christmas from an 83-year-old victim and citizen of Brevard County.

This case of Christmas stealing was brought to our attention on Christmas Eve when the victim, an 83-year-old female, was physically assaulted and robbed by Heather Nelson, 29, who decided to play Grinch after she demanded a $500 Christmas bonus from the victim, who she claimed to be the house cleaner for.

When the victim announced that she didn’t have enough money to give her a bonus, Nelson responded by physically wrenching the victim’s checkbook from her hand and stealing a check from the checkbook.

Then, I guess in an effort to ruin other people’s Christmas as well, they stole Christmas cards that were set to be mailed out and also contained checks.

Grinch, you went too far. I guess committing battery and almost breaking the wrist of the elderly victim wasn’t bad enough, so you decide to steal all her money and take Christmas gifts that were meant for others away as well. What’s next…kick her dog?

And to make matters even worse, investigative efforts by Agent Kevin Sherrill revealed that Nelson had written the stolen check for the amount of $1,400 for her Christmas bonus and then used the victim’s credit card to pay her own rent along with a number of other purchases that were subsequently discovered as part of the investigation.

Now, while the original Grinch story may have ended with everyone in Whoville being happy and sharing their Christmas with the Grinch, this one ends with Agent Sherrill not being happy at all about what happened and going to get a warrant for Heather Nelson for robbery by sudden snatching, aggravated battery on a person over 65, forgery, uttering a forged instrument, criminal use of personal identification, fraudulent use of a credit card, and grand theft.

Of course, knowing that the Grinch Who Tried To Steal Christmas from an 83-year-old was about to be arrested by our team, I decided to go out with them on the arrest as I wanted to see exactly what the Grinch looked like in person.

And even better, when Nelson saw me on-scene as she was being arrested, she asked Agent Sherrill why he had to bring me as I was going to blast her all over Facebook and make her look bad.”

To be honest, Heather, you made yourself look bad, and that is why you had a waiting reservation at “Ivey’s Iron Bar Lodge on a $30,000 bond.

And, of course, since you were so worried about getting your bonus, we had some extra gifts for you, like a keepsake booking photo, a slightly used pair of shower slides, and unlimited access to our world-famous one-star dining facility where you can enjoy absolutely nothing you eat.

Another great job by Agent Sherrill and our General Crimes Unit, as Nelson is now exactly where she belongs – in jail, where she can’t bully or victimize another member of our community.

– Sheriff Wayne Ivey

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