Ho ho, oh no: Man sought by police goes down chimney and gets stuck

A Massachusetts man trying to escape police shuffled down the chimney.

And got stuck.

The man fled to a rooftop and channeled what Fall River police described as “the essence of the season’s icon,” but ultimately had to be rescued by the detectives who chased him after he became stuck in a chimney Tuesday night.

Fall River police bodycam video shows a detective shouting, “Hey, he’s on the roof. Come over here!’ Detectives were alerted moments later by a bystander that a man was “screaming” in a nearby chimney. Incredulous detectives climbed onto the roof and peered into the shaft with a flashlight and saw that the man was trapped. “You’re an idiot,” one of them said.

Detectives called in firefighters who had to carefully break rocks to free the man. “Due to his Santa antics, (the man) was transported to a local hospital out of an abundance of caution,” police said.

The man remained in jail Thursday on drug charges and other charges on outstanding warrants. His court-appointed attorney did not immediately return an email message. Another man wanted by police jumped from the roof and over a fence and escaped arrest.

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Sharp reported from Portland, Maine.