It was a cold, strange Christmas for one Great Falls, Mont., man.
Police were called to Gibson Park (search) 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.
— Thanks to Out There readers Cristen and Rich.
Keys Locked in Car, Driver Locked in Jail
WEST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A New Haven man who had locked his keys in his car ended up locked up himself.
Police said Timothy Brown got in trouble after he accidentally locked his keys inside his car last week.
Instead of asking for help, the 35-year-old man made up a story about his car being on fire in an attempt to have firefighters help him get inside his car, police said.
Sgt. Paul Raucci, a West Haven (search) police department spokesman, said firefighters rushed to Brown's car Thursday night believing a fire was in progress.
"There was no fire, but they found that he locked his keys in his car," Raucci said Monday.
Brown denied that he reported a car fire to a fire dispatcher. However, officers who reviewed a tape of the conversation between Brown and the dispatcher discovered that he did, in fact, claim a car fire, Raucci said.
At his arraignment Monday in Milford Superior Court on charges of falsely reporting an incident and interfering with police, Judge John Ronan ordered Brown held in lieu of $25,000 bond.
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Nutballz (search), a cookie company founded by a snowboarder, says it has won an eBay auction to borrow a plastic foam cup its owner says was used by Elvis Presley during a 1977 concert.
The cup has already brought a measure of fame to Wade Jones of Belmont, N.C., who says he got the souvenir from a police officer after a show by Presley in Charlotte. The cup came with water.
"When I got home, I didn't know exactly what to do with it, so I put some Saran Wrap over the cup, put a rubber band around it, and placed it in the door of our deep freezer," Jones writes in his eBay posting.
As previously mentioned in Out There, Jones auctioned off the remaining three tablespoons of water, now stored in a glass vial, for $455, and came up with the idea of auctioning off a one-time appearance by the cup.
Nutballz, the maker of cookies free of wheat or refined sugar, plans to use the cup as a drawing card for its Jan. 25 fund-raiser to benefit the University of Maryland's Center for Celiac Research (search), which studies gluten intolerance.
"After 27 years, the 'Elvis Cup' will finally go on TOUR once again!" Jones says on eBay.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Some Texans are hoping to turn a rare snowfall into some cold cash.
A 23-year-old Brownsville man has put a three-pound snowball he collected during an unprecedented Rio Grande Valley Christmas snowfall on the eBay auction block.
As previously mentioned in Out There, Brownsville received 1.5 inches of snow Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, its first measurable snow since Feb. 14, 1895, according to the National Weather Service.
"It's an amazing historical event," seller Oscar J. Garza said. "They've been selling so much stuff on eBay I thought I'd get a good laugh and if I make a little money out of it, oh well."
Garza's ball of snow was going for $20.50 early Tuesday — plus a $20 shipping charge — with bidding ending on Saturday. Seventeen people had placed bids so far.
Garza isn't the only one trying to cash in on the wintry wonderland. Another seller was asking $250,000 for a bowl of Christmas snow from Corpus Christi, sold "as is" without warranty. There were no takers as of early Tuesday.
DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) — There's a potty prankster on the loose in Dothan, Ala.
As previously mentioned in Out There, since November, someone has tipped over about 50 portable toilets. The last two were tipped over the weekend.
Police are vowing to catch the culprit. Officers are keeping an eye on building construction sites, and they're considering setting up a sting operation.
Police suspect a group of people may be responsible, since a portable toilet can weigh up to 400 pounds.
The owner of Portable Toilet Services (search) says each damaged toilet costs at least 150 dollars in time, energy and repairs, plus the drain on police resources. The company is offering a reward for information leading to an arrest.
Compiled by FOXNews.com's Paul Wagenseil.
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