Man who stole donation canister from a Chalmette store collecting money for a 3-year-old cancer victim has been arrested but the stolen $100 not recovered;

The canister, with a photo of the girl the money was being collected for, Madisyn Riculfy, 3, of Chalmette.

Kevin Toups of Chalmette, booked with theft of a donation canister cointaining about $100.

A Chalmette man apparently didn’t care he was stealing money being collected for a three-year-old girl with cancer but he has been arrested by the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

The stolen cash, estimated at about $100, wasn’t recovered in the arrest Friday of Kevin Toups, 36, who has a lengthy criminal history, the sheriff said.

But a benefit fund has been set up at Gulf Coast Bank in Chalmette to try to raise money for medical expenses for the girl, Madisyn Riculfy, who lives with her parents in Chalmette.

“It is a crime against all people when someone would dare steal money clearly intended to help a three-year-old cancer victim,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. “Her photo was on the collection cansister and it said she had had cancer. I am glad he is now arrested’’ the sheriff said of Toups.

The donation canister with the girl’s photo on it and containing money for her was stolen about 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 15 off a counter at Hoffer’s gasoline station and convenience store at Paris Road and Judge Perez Drive.

Sheriff’s deputies found the canister, which had been emptied of the money, discarded on the ground near the store after the incident, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

A video surveillance camera, however, showed the thief and sheriff’s detectives were able to determine it was Toups, who has been arrested in the past for charges which included burglary and drugs,

Det. Steve Imbraguglio obtained an arrest warrant from a judge and arrested Toups at a residence near the store on Friday morning. Toups is being held in St. Bernard Parish, with no bond set.