Raccoon breaks into Ashland ABC store, passes out in bathroom

ASHLAND, Va. (WWBT) - An unbelievable story out of Ashland is going viral on social media.

Animal control officers in Ashland responded to an unusual call this weekend after a raccoon broke into an ABC store, ransacked several shelves, and passed out in the bathroom.

The raccoon broke into the store through the ceiling during the early morning on Saturday, Nov. 29. Virginia ABC said the animal damaged the security system, triggering a power outage alert from the security company.

Officer Martin with Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter officer was called to the Ashland ABC store and found the nocturnal mammal unconscious in the store’s restroom.

“I was just like, that is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen,” locals in Ashland, Nick and Genevieve, laughed about. “At least he got to the bathroom when he passed out.”

The officer safely secured the intoxicated raccoon and took it to an animal shelter to recover.

After several hours of rest, the raccoon did not show signs of injury and was released back into the wild.

Virginia ABC did not specify what alcohol the racoon may have consumed during the break-in but did say the racoon damaged $250 worth of spirits.

After posting about the incident on social media Tuesday morning, Hanover Animal Protection and Shelter Chief Jeffery Parker said his phone started ringing off the hook, and the comments started flooding in.

“What I’m seeing on the post is a lot of ‘This is hilarious, is this actually true?’ things along those lines, ‘Is this an April Fool’s joke?’” Parker said.

12 On Your Side went to the scene of the crime to investigate the matter firsthand. It was then revealed by a neighboring business that this rowdy raccoon may be a serial stealer. Rise Martial Arts said around a year ago, they, too, had a raccoon break into the building.

“It was up in the crawl space, like in the ceiling, and it went through our break room, and it got into our snacks, it was all over the place,” Madison Blair, an employee at Rise Martial Arts, said. “I was sent a lot of messages actually today, saying ‘what if it’s the same raccoon?’”

As the party animal continues to go viral on social media, Parker said Hanover Animal Protection and Shelter welcomes the exposure to show people what they do daily, no matter how ridiculous the call.

“A lot of people don’t know, or they only see the negative in things, and I was like, let’s put it out there. You can’t make this up, it happened,” Parker said.