Raccoon gets drunk at Virginia ABC store, passes out in bathroom

Ashland ABC store ransacked by a raccoon.
A Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter officer responded to an ABC store in Ashland, Virginia, on Saturday morning for a report of an unusual break-in. (Courtesy Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter)
The "suspect" raccoon passing out in the bathroom.
The “suspect” raccoon passed out in the bathroom. (Courtesy Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter)
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Ashland ABC store ransacked by a raccoon.
The "suspect" raccoon passing out in the bathroom.

A raccoon got a taste for trouble, and alcohol, after breaking into an ABC store in Ashland, Virginia, over the weekend, ransacking shelves and then passing out in the bathroom.

An officer from Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter responded to the store Saturday morning for a report of an unusual break-in. When Officer Martin arrived, she found shelves ransacked and bottles broken on the ground.

The “suspect” was discovered passed out on the floor of the bathroom, and was identified as an intoxicated raccoon, according to the shelter.

Martin safely captured and transported the animal to the shelter, and the raccoon was given several hours to “sober up before questioning,” the shelter joked in a post on social media. The county shelter said the raccoon showed “zero signs of injury, other than maybe a hangover and poor life choices.”

The animal was safely released back into the wild and is unlikely to face charges.

The shelter staff praised “Officer Martin for handling this chaotic scene with professionalism and good humor.”

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