After arresting a woman who was driving with a suspended license, officers with the Springfield Township Police Department in Ohio found a raccoon in her car holding a methamphetamine pipe.
Driver Victoria Vidal, 55, of Akron, Ohio, was told to pull over around 7:15 p.m. Monday due to her suspended license and an active warrant out for her arrest. Police detained her without incident.
When officers went back to her car, however, they found a pet raccoon named Chewy sitting in the driver’s seat with a meth pipe in its mouth. Police said they do not believe Chewy was on drugs.
“The pipes themselves didn’t have any residue inside of them, just the burned amount that was on the outside of it, so there was no inherent risk for Chewy to have exposure,” Officer Austin Branham told WJW-TV.
The officers said they then found three other used glass meth pipes, crack cocaine and a larger amount of methamphetamine.
Ms. Vidal has been charged with felony third-degree possession of drugs, three counts of possession of drug paraphernalia. She was also written up for driving with a suspended license. Additional charges for the crack cocaine are pending while waiting for lab results, and Ms. Vidal was handed over to police in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where the prior arrest warrant was issued.
Springfield Township Police Department did not say what charges Ms. Vidal faces in Cuyahoga Falls.
As for Chewy, he was initially handed over to Ms. Vidal’s family members. However, the family does not have the proper paperwork to own a raccoon in Ohio. Police told WJW-TV that they will either help the family secure the paperwork or Chewy will be rehomed to new owners.
