An inflatable Santa pops up from the chimney on top of the Holiday House of Hanson, in Quincy, MA, Monday, Dec. 4, 2023.
© Tom Gorman/For The Patriot Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK
(Fall River, MA) – It was not a jolly jaunt for one Massachusetts man after he found himself stuck recently. Cops in Fall River say Robert Langlais ran away from them on Tuesday after they arrived to execute a search warrant connected to drugs. Apparently, Langlais took to the roof of a home while fleeing — and attempted to hide.
During that escape attempt, Langlais became trapped — wedged in the chimney while trying to hide and conceal himself. Unable to be freed after being spotted, cops eventually smashed the chimney from inside the home — then pulled Langlais out. He was checked out at a local hospital, and then booked on charges of drug possession.
Of course, this time of year people are more accustomed to anticipating the jolly elf in a red suit when thinking about homes and chimneys. And the concept of Santa going into homes via the chimney is not a recent one. In fact, in pagan times, the Norse God Odin would enter homes using the chimney — during the Winter Solstice. And Italians believed a witch named Befana would deliver gifts in a similar fashion on Epiphany Eve — which falls on Sunday, January 5 next year.
