A Virginia state-run liquor store was ransacked by a masked bandit on Friday evening, authorities said, leaving a trail of broken spirit bottles strewn across the shop floor.
The suspect, an intoxicated raccoon, was found passed out in the store’s restroom the following morning.
An animal control officer “safely secured our masked bandit and transported him back to the shelter to sober up before questioning,” the Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter said Tuesday.
“After a few hours of sleep and zero signs of injury (other than maybe a hangover and poor life choices), he was safely released back to the wild, hopefully having learned that breaking and entering is not the answer,” the agency said in a social media post.
The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Raccoons are commonly found in rural and urban environments across the United States. They’re curious and intelligent, wildlife experts say — which can lead to antisocial behavior as the nocturnal animals increasingly strike out into cities in search of food.
Their nimble fingers and agility at climbing enable them to pry open trash cans and find their way into houses, office buildings and even liquor stores. In this case, the raccoon crashed through a ceiling tile, leaving authorities with few clues as to whether the liquor store was deliberately targeted or if the suspect had stumbled into the store and gulped down the spirits for the first time.
In the wild, raccoons have been known to feast on fermented fruit — causing them to stagger around in an apparently drunken stupor.
In 2016, a raccoon came through the ceiling of a liquor store in Bristol, Tennessee, and began ransacking shelves, sending pricey bottles of bourbon crashing to the floor. On another occasion, an intoxicated raccoon was filmed at a beer distribution warehouse in Brooklyn.
In May, police in Springfield Township, Ohio, were carrying out a traffic stop when things took an unusual turn. After the driver was detained, an officer returned to the car and found a pet raccoon named “Chewy” sitting in the driver’s seat with a meth pipe in its mouth. The raccoon was unharmed in the incident, the police department said.
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