was coming to town.
A man dressed in full Santa gear had just lifted off from his Rio Linda neighborhood north of Sacramento, intending to shower children below with candy canes. But his paraglider sleigh got caught in some power lines, suspending the man for an hour before firefighters safely lowered him to the ground.
“He was in good enough spirits, considering what happened,” said Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District spokesman Chris Vestal, declining to give the man’s name. “He was disappointed he didn’t get to finish his task.”
A “semi-local celebrity,” the man was headed to a community event when his trip was derailed, Vestal said. The cause of Claus’ incident — perhaps morning fog, wind or faulty directions to the North Pole — remains unclear.