The last time I checked, the only thing the Teletubbies were guilty of is being the most awful thing that ever happened to television – slight exaggeration – but they’ve never been that big on committing felonies. That wasn’t the case this past weekend in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, when Laa-Laa (the yellow one) was picked up for criminal mischief and disorderly conduct after breaking and entering into someone’s home. At least, it was someone wearing a Laa-Laa costume. I wonder if that person ever watches movies and scoffs when thieves wear black as not to stand out during their crimes.
20-year-old Lehigh University student Terez S. Owens Jr. allegedly spent part of early Sunday morning breaking into his friend’s house while wearing a full-body Laa-Laa suit. As the Lehigh Valley Live website put it, Owens caused damaged to the door that he used as his entrance. And what did he do once he was inside the house? He stole the friend’s leftover Chinese food from the refrigerator and put it inside a man purse before leaving. WTF? It’s astounding that the story doesn’t mention Owens being so drunk that his breath was flammable.
Given the bizarre circumstances here, you already know what I’m about to tell you: the culprit was a Florida native – Owens was from Jacksonville, to be exact. It almost looked like he would have gotten away with it, too, and it didn’t even take a pack of pesky kids and a talking dog to change that. The victimized friend initially wasn’t going to press charges, but then changed his or her mind once the landlord got involved over the damage done to the door. The ties that bind friendships don’t always include home damage when dressed as a preschool PBS series character.
It’s hard to find a better official quote from an authority figure than that which was said by Bethlehem Police Chief Mark DiLuzio.
”Not that many Teletubbies get arrested. You can’t make it up.”
Indeed. It’s kind of strange how many crimes have been committed in the past few months by wrongdoers wearing pop culture costumes. Remember when Drunk Superman tried to make flight happen? And it was very recently that Spider-Man robbed a store. I guess Big Bird will be selling immigrants on the black market next.
The future may be the home to a whole host of Teletubbies-related crime sprees, as the oft-maligned children’s series is coming back to TV audiences via DHX Media and the BBC, which are teaming up for 60 brand new episodes. Maybe the first episode should be about Tinky Winky, Dipsy and Po teaching Laa-Laa about the proper way to store leftovers.
