LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Louisville Metro Police Department went on an undercover sting with Santa Claus to back them up.
"Officer Claus" -- an LMPD officer dressed as the jolly old man in red himself -- dropped in on Walmart shoppers to hand out gift cards at random on Friday.
Our cameras caught one gleeful exchange.
"We've decided to give you a little gift today!" exclaimed "Officer Claus" to shopper Tammy Mattingly.
"How am I that lucky?" Mattingly asked.
"You are that lucky," Claus said. "You are getting two $20 gift cards to Walmart."
"Are you serious?" she replied.
"Yes ma'am!" the officer said.
It all happened at the Walmart Supercenter at 11901 Standiford Plaza Drive, off the Gene Snyder Freeway in south Louisville.
"Oh man, I can get food -- something to eat -- groceries," Mattingly said. "Twenty dollars is extra any time of the year, so it's great. It felt good."
"We try something different to engage the community and make them smile," explained Officer Russell Miller of LMPD's 7th Division. "Because if we smiled more, maybe we'd treat people better and we wouldn't have as many problems in the community."
Walmart donated $1,000 to the police department and officers then turned it back into gift cards.
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