Police officers found a man who appeared to be channeling his inner Santa Claus on Tuesday in Fall River, Massachusetts.
The suspect, identified as 33-year-old Robert Langlais, allegedly tried to evade police by jumping down into a chimney at a home in the area, News Channel 9 reported Thursday.
An image shows the suspect trapped in the tiny space:
Authorities were executing a search warrant when two men fled the home by climbing onto the rooftop. One of the suspects, police said, eluded them by jumping off the roof and onto a parked vehicle.
In a social media post Wednesday, City of Fall River Police Department described what happened, writing that Langlais “invoked the essence of the seasonal icon and attempted to hide inside of a chimney.”
The agency continued:
Langlais quickly became stuck in the chimney and required the assistance of the very detectives he was previously fleeing from. With the help of the Fall River Fire Department and Fall River Emergency Medical Services, Langlais was rescued and taken into custody. Due to his Santa-antics, Langlais was transported to a local hospital out of precaution and was medically cleared. He was formally arrested for Possession of Class A drugs, Possession of Class B drugs and a slew of charges from outstanding warrants. Also present and arrested, with less theatrics, was Tanisha Ibay (age 32) for the charges of Possession of Class A drugs and Possession of Class B drugs.
On the evening of December 10, 2024, Detectives of the Community Action & Suppression Team (CAST) executed a search…
Posted by City of Fall River Police Department on Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Police body camera footage shows an officer talking to a neighbor who tells him, “I was walking my dog a little while ago. I heard some screaming. I looked up and that back house, a guy went down, yeah, he went down the chimney.”
“He’s in the chimney?” the officer asked, to which the man replied, “He’s in the chimney.”
When the officers found the suspect in the chimney, one of them told him, “You’re an idiot. Show us your hands.” However, it appears the wannabe Santa Claus is wedged tightly inside the chimney.
The clip then shows the top of Langlais’ head. Moments later, the video recorded the moment firefighters broke through the brick and pulled him out to safety:
As described in our earlier post, last night, December 10, 2024, Detectives of the Community Action & Suppression Team (CAST) executed a search warrant at 127 Canal Street. In that incident Robert Langlais (age 33) attempted to evade arrest by hiding inside of a chimney. Detectives unable to free him called our friends at the Fall River Fire Department and Fall River Emergency Medical Services to the scene to rescue Langlais who had become wedged in the chimney. Click on the link below for police body worn camera footage of this incident.
Posted by City of Fall River Police Department on Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Social media users shared their thoughts on the incident, one person writing, “Dude was tryna deliver presents” while another user said he was on the “Naughty list.”
A similar instance happened in 2019 when a naked man accused of trying to burglarize a home in Los Angeles was arrested after being found stuck in a chimney, Breitbart News reported.
