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It was a cold, strange Christmas for one Great Falls, Mont., man.
Police were called to Gibson Park at about 1 a.m. Dec. 25, reports the Great Falls Tribune.
There they found not Santa Claus, but a 19-year-old man stuck in one of the park's plastic toddler swings — very upset, very naked and, given the 20-degree temperature, very chilly.
The cops covered the nude swinger with a blanket, then tried to pull him out of the swing. No luck.
So they called in the firefighters, who fared no better.
The boys in blue and the boys in red put their heads together and decided the best thing to do would be to move the entire operation indoors.
The swing and its hapless occupant were cut down and transported to the nearest firehouse.
Once there, a hacksaw was taken to the swing's molded plastic, but failed to make much of a cut. Bolt cutters didn't work either.
Nor did a tub of cooking grease requisitioned from the firehouse kitchen. The naked man still was stuck fast.
"We tried everything," said Great Falls Fire Capt. Max Bailey.
Finally, someone brought in a steel grinder and went to work on the rivets on the clasp holding the swing together.
That did the trick, leaving the bare-bottomed man merely without clothes, money or much sleep.
"It was way more torture than he deserved for what he did," said Bailey.
Neither the police nor the firefighters would name the man, who was not charged with anything.
Both departments would say, however, that the nearly frozen frolicker never did fully explain how he got into his predicament.
Police were called to Gibson Park at about 1 a.m. Dec. 25, reports the Great Falls Tribune.
There they found not Santa Claus, but a 19-year-old man stuck in one of the park's plastic toddler swings — very upset, very naked and, given the 20-degree temperature, very chilly.
The cops covered the nude swinger with a blanket, then tried to pull him out of the swing. No luck.
So they called in the firefighters, who fared no better.
The boys in blue and the boys in red put their heads together and decided the best thing to do would be to move the entire operation indoors.
The swing and its hapless occupant were cut down and transported to the nearest firehouse.
Once there, a hacksaw was taken to the swing's molded plastic, but failed to make much of a cut. Bolt cutters didn't work either.
Nor did a tub of cooking grease requisitioned from the firehouse kitchen. The naked man still was stuck fast.
"We tried everything," said Great Falls Fire Capt. Max Bailey.
Finally, someone brought in a steel grinder and went to work on the rivets on the clasp holding the swing together.
That did the trick, leaving the bare-bottomed man merely without clothes, money or much sleep.
"It was way more torture than he deserved for what he did," said Bailey.
Neither the police nor the firefighters would name the man, who was not charged with anything.
Both departments would say, however, that the nearly frozen frolicker never did fully explain how he got into his predicament.
