'Ho ho hold on!' Santa Claus gets pulled over in Ohio for speeding

Not even Father Christmas is exempt from traffic rules.

A video shared by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office in Ohio, US, shows the hilarious scene of a man dressed as Santa Claus — and a woman as Mrs Claus — getting pulled over for speeding on the evening of Dec 20.

"Ho ho hold on!" the caption reads. "Santa and Mrs Claus were spotted flying a little too fast through Fulton County.

"No coal was issued — just a friendly reminder that even sleighs need to slow down. Christmas is still on schedule! Stay safe and happy holidays."

The bodycam footage shows a sheriff's deputy coming up to the driver's side window and cackling when 'Santa' informs him that he has a concealed carry weapon.

He tells 'Santa' that the area has a speed limit of 55 miles per hour due to the presence of "a lot of deer" or people who may pull onto the road, and that his reaction time wouldn't be as good at a faster speed.

As he asks the man to show him his licence and step out of the vehicle, the officer jokes: "This is the video of the night! There goes my presents!"

But all's well that ends well, as 'Santa' was let go with just a warning and even took a photo with the deputy who pulled him over.

Netizens were tickled by the encounter, with one joking in the Facebook comments: "If my presents are late getting here, I blame Deputy Grinch."

"I showed my kids this and my daughter goes, 'Mum, is Santa still gonna bring us presents?'" a woman commented. "I was like, 'Yeah, he didn't go to jail'."

The woman added that her daughter then asked what would happen if he did, and she assured the child that the elves would deliver the presents in that case.

Others asked the sheriff's deputy to leave extra cookies out for Santa after the incident.

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