This Christmas decoration is so epic people are calling 911 about it

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One man's Christmas prank turned into a police matter when neighbors in this Boulder, CO thought a decoration was real. USA TODAY

BOULDER, Colo.  — When people stop to stare at your Christmas decorations, you know they're good. However, when the police get called because of them, you know you've really got something.

What started as a practical joke has garnered attention across the Boulder community — and now across the nation. During a moment of frustration while hanging his lights, Chris Olson got an idea to freak his wife out a little bit.

"My dad was a big practical joker," Olson said. "So, I grew up with that whole kind of sense of humor."

Using some of the clothes he was wearing at the time, he made a dummy and hung it from his gutter. His goal was to trick his wife into thinking he was falling off the roof (a total Clark Griswold move!).

His plan didn't exactly work out. Olson couldn't hang the dummy in time and tried to hide it in a part of the garage he didn't think she'd find.

"A couple of days later, I got a text at work," he said. "It said, 'What is this dummy doing in the garage?'"

So, he lost that battle, but he didn't lose the war. It might not have worked on them, but it sure got everyone else who drove and walked by.

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"[My family] heard this guy come running up and he's like, 'Sir! Sir! Can I help you, sir? Sir!'" Olson said. "And then he realized he's not talking to a real person."

But that guy's shock didn't even compare to the Olsons' when a few people called 911 about their display.

"I go, 'Honey, the fire truck's here! The fire department!'" Olson said laughing. "I go, 'Oh, and there's a police officer, and paramedics and everything!' They all arrived. Boulder's finest were here."

Olson thought he might be ticketed or told to take the dummy down, but he said police actually found it pretty funny. In the future though, he'll probably warn police he's using the decoration before they get any calls, he said.