Florida bell ringer allegedly tries to 'impale' store manager with donation tripod while drunk

Key Highlights

• Pavlik had been stationed as a bell ringer outside the store.
• MURDER IN SMALL-TOWN AMERICA: THE CRIMES THAT TORE QUIET COMMUNITIES APART IN 2025 Steven Pavlik, a Salvation Army bell ringer, allegedly was intoxicated and attempted to stab a Publix manager.
• (AP Photo, File/Martin County Sheriff's Office) Sixty-three-year-old "Steven Pavlik tried his hand at some part-time Christmas charity work — however, drunk ringing, belligerent tidings and assault took him from bell duty to booking blotter after a full-blown charity tirade," the Martin County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Christmas Eve Facebook post.
• The store manager confronted Pavlik after he allegedly got drunk on duty and began "aggressively" harassing passersby, causing a "major disturbance" outside the store, according to the sheriff's office.
• The suspect allegedly attacked the store manager with his donation kettle tripod.