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A Tulsa, Oklahoma, mother is outraged by what her son bought at the local dollar store for just a quarter Wednesday afternoon.
Leona Kelley told Tulsa's KOKI-TV that she always gives her son a quarter for the small plastic bubble toys at the front of many stores whenever her family goes shopping. Now, she's thinking twice.
"We actually bought four things, and three of them were little dinosaurs or something," Kelley said. "And on the fourth one, it so happened this fell out."
The "this" she is referring to is a gold-colored plastic ring with a Nazi symbol clearly printed on the front. Her son purchased it for just 25 cents.
"You don't want to know what my reaction was," Kelley said. "I just started yelling at the store people like, 'What the hmmm is this?' I'm like, 'Why is this here?'"
Kelley said thankfully her 4-year-old son doesn't know what a swastika is yet, and he's more upset about mom not letting him keep the small ring toy.
KOKI-TV went to the Family Dollar store in North Tulsa to find out how the Nazi ring ended up in a machine used by small children. We found that there were an estimated 10 to 15 more swastika rings in the machine mixed in with other jewelry that features dinosaurs and happy faces.
Family Dollar told KOKI-TV that they don't maintain or stock the vending machine, and they've had trouble with the vendor in the past.
Kelley went to other Family Dollar stores around Tulsa and did not find the Nazi rings in any other vending machines. She said she believes the vendor may have intentionally put the rings in a predominately African-American neighborhood.
"It was made just like the other rings they've got in there," Kelley said. "You can bend it up and shove it in here. So it was made for a vending machine. I just don't understand why."
Family Dollar allowed KOKI-TV inside the store to get the vendor's contact information. We found an Oklahoma Tax Commission license and a Lawton, Oklahoma-area phone number, but the vending company's name was not on the machine itself.
KOKI-TV called the number on the machine, and the man who answered said he had "no comment." Before ending the call, he said the items inside the machine will be examined and removed in the next few days.
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