Pie in Santa’s face brings charge

MISSOULA – A college student accused of shoving a pumpkin pie into the face of a shopping-mall Santa Claus has been charged with misdemeanor assault.

Clint Westwood, a drama student at the University of Montana, said he has a video recording of the pie incident and plans to include the clip in his upcoming film about antics.

Westwood, 22, was charged on Friday.

He said that after the pie ruckus on Wednesday, he waited in a mall corridor and expected to approach Santa for a signature on a film-release form once the stir ended, but police arrived.

“It’s a good thing he didn’t wait around, because I think Santa would have laid him out,” said Sgt. Travis Welsh of the Missoula Police Department.

Westwood said he and companions had waited for a girl about 15 years old to finish sitting on Santa’s lap before the pie hit his face, “but then we just decided it would be funnier if she was still sitting there.” Westwood said he “lightly smooshed” the pie into the man’s face and shouted, “What do you think of that, Santa?”

Police identified Westwood as a suspect after questioning a mall employee who received a text message boasting about a Santa prank.