The Generous Black Friday Stunt Meant to Spread 'Holiday Cheer' at America's Largest Mall That Ended With a Citation for the Prankster

While there were a slew of unsavory stories resulting from Black Friday madness, one man thought he'd do something nice for shoppers -- and it still landed him with a citation.

Serge Vorobyov, a man from Apple Valley, Minn., tossed $1,000 worth of bills into the air at the Mall of America on the busiest shopping day of the year.

Money "snowed" down at the Mall of America on Friday. (Image source: YouTube)

Vorobyov, who on YouTube is known as Serge The Car Hauler, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune it was a publicity stunt meant to spread Christmas cheer, but he was cited for disorderly conduct by police as a result.

"While the Italian Trio was singing Christmas songs in the rotunda at the Mall of America on Black Friday 2013, Serge was making it snow at the same time that the song 'Let It Snow' was sung," the description of the video read. "It was snowing $1,000 dollars as they sang. You could see some people rushing to get some money and the tone of the singers voices change for the better when they resized it was snowing money as they sing 'Let It Snow!'"

The bills can be seen on the stage. The man who tossed them was cited for disorderly conduct. (Image source: YouTube)

Watch the footage of the money floating down from the third floor of the Mall of America's rotunda:

“I don’t see how holiday cheer is disorderly conduct,” Vorobyov said, according to the Star Tribune.

The 29-year-old later spoke with WCCO-TV and said he didn't realize the stunt would be that big of a deal.

“I thought to do something funny, have some fun with it and it turned out a lot of people enjoyed it,” he said.

Vorobyov said it has been a tough year for many, including himself. He lost his business and went through a divorce this year.

“It was my last effort of pay it forward,” Vorobyov told WCCO. “I thought I can’t keep up with my bills, I’m losing everything, might as well have my last little thrill.”

Watch WCCO's report for more on Vorobyov's perspective:

In a video blog, Vorobyov explained why he did the stunt:

A spokesperson from the mall told WCCO this was the first time anyone has thrown money from the rotunda.

(H/T: NPR)

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