“Santa Got Pinched?” Big Shot Lawyer to Defend Claus

Top-flight criminal defense attorney comes to St. Nick's defense

Sometimes there's no present like a good criminal defense attorney. Just ask St. Nick.

"Santa got pinched?" hot shot lawyer Eddie Hayes wondered incredulously in today's Daily News. "I thought you got jammed up for stealing things, not giving. This guy's giving it away!"

That's usually how things work. But not for one Brooklyn Santa who got slapped with a parking ticket while trying to deliver presents to children in Brooklyn this month. Luckily for this Santa, also known as Chip Cafiero,  Hayes is being as nice as the parking enforcement agent was naughty.

The heartless agent tried to steal Cafiero's Christmas on Black Friday, when the 60-year-old retired schoolteacher was riding a horse-drawn carriage and handing out toys and candy canes. A sport utility vehicle carrying the toys and protecting the horse from traffic was double parked next to him.

Parents yelled out: "That's Santa's car. That's Santa's car," as the agent wrote the $115 summons.

With a client list that includes mobsters, molls, and crooked cops, Hayes is used to dealing with characters who are even more colorful than red-suited St. Nick.

"It's about time I had a client who's fully dressed," said Hayes.

And even though his main mode of transportation is a sleigh, when it comes to his pending court case, everybody is hoping that Santa walks.

Contact Us