Two teenagers in St. Paul must have thought the zombie apocalypse was upon them when a zombie dressed as Santa Claus entered their house and vomited in their living room.
You read that right. A zombie dressed as Santa Claus.
As it turned out, the undead version of Father Christmas was actually Brock Quinn Johnson, a 21-year-old senior at the University of St. Thomas, six blocks away from their home.
Johnson was participating at the Zombie Pub Crawl in Minneapolis on Oct. 11 when he wandered into the home of the Sullivan family, intoxicated, unaware of his surroundings and just looking for a place to sleep.
A 14-year-old boy who lived there was reportedly washing dishes when he heard their unlocked door open. He went over to say hello, thinking it was his parents, but instead was shocked to find a man in a Santa Claus costume "looking like a zombie."
He ran out the back of the house and was able to call 911 on his cellphone. He was shouting hysterically when neighbors heard him a block away and was full of concern for his 16-year-old sister who locked herself in a bathroom in their home to try to call their parents.
When police arrived at the home, they found the UST senior passed out on the floor. He was not wearing a zombie mask but the makeup he had on apparently gave him a zombie-like appearance. He was taken to a detoxification center and was arrested for trespassing.
Although the teens were shaken by their zombie experience, their father Tom Sullivan was able to take the incident in stride.
"The police did a nice job of calming them down and explaining the individual meant no harm. Fortunately, it had a happy ending, and no one will ever think of Santa the same way. If you're going to have a break-in, this is the best kind -- someone who means no harm and was looking for a place to sleep," he said.
UST has also issued an apology for the noise and disruption the activities over the weekend had caused.
