Cash box with $1,000 stolen from Girl Scouts selling cookies in New Hampshire

Police say they have identified a suspect after someone stole a cash box containing about $1,000 from Girl Scouts who were selling cookies outside a New Hampshire Walmart.

It happened on Wednesday at about 1:50 p.m. outside the store in West Lebanon.

"The Girl Scout and her mother were about to close up the booth when a man came up and then ran off with their cash box," the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains said in a statement. "Thankfully, both were unharmed during the incident."

The troop was selling cookies to raise money "for a celebratory trip in their final year as Girl Scouts," the organization said. 

Police described the thief as a White man wearing a white sweatshirt, blue jeans, black hat and black mask. After grabbing the metal box, he ran into the woods behind the shopping plaza.

With the help of a K-9 team, police followed the suspected thief's trail to the parking lot behind a New Hampshire state liquor store. Surveillance video from the store showed him running across the parking lot and getting into a white Jeep Grand Cherokee.

While the cash box was later found in the woods, there was no money inside. The Girl Scouts are hoping to raise money from the public to make up for the cash that was taken. 

Police said tips from the public helped investigators identify a suspect who lives in Vermont. The police chief said he is currently in jail there, and police are in the process of obtaining an arrest warrant. 

Lebanon is in western New Hampshire, along the border with Vermont.