Police said the man was turning donations into dollars and taking the cash out of the pockets of the Special Olympics organization.

Officers managed to catch 47-year-old Thomas Stewart on camera, recording him unloading the clothing donations from a Special Olympics drop box.

Police said Ohio Mills, which collects the donations for the charity, fired Stewart a year ago. Stewart was caught on camera throwing bag after bag into his rented truck, police said.

Detectives said they watched him empty 31 bins in five counties in nine hours before they made their arrest.

Det. Paul Guess said, "This was a deal where he could make $500-1000 a day in these pickups."

Officers filled a police department property garage with the 5,300 pounds stolen donations that he would have sold for 18 cents a pound to a thrift store.

Officers also discovered about a dozen other routes that Stewart would drive, using keys he secretly kept after being fired to get into the collection boxes. Some of the routes had 20-30 stops with bins.

The operation was busted when his former employer went to the police with concerns.

"They were suspicious when they started coming up empty on a routine basis and in the past these boxes had donations in their boxes," said Guess.

Stewart is being held in the Montgomery County Jail