The suspect in a break-in at a liquor store in the US state of Virginia left a trail of broken glass and ended in a drunken heap on the floor.
But the perpetrator of this booze-fueled rampage was released without charge into the wild after a few hours' sleep to sober up.
Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter reported Tuesday that a raccoon broke into the Ashland ABC Store over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.
One of the shelter's officers was called to the scene on Saturday morning and discovered the "suspect" had ransacked several shelves and passed out in the bathroom.
Photos showed an aisle of the store littered with broken bottles, and the raccoon spread-eagled, face-down, beside the lavatory.
"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 shelter said in a Facebook post.
"A good drunk always passes out near the toilet," joked one Facebook commenter, Tom Wright.
Raccoons, known for their dexterous paws, are native to North America. They are nocturnal and often rifle through garbage and other places as they scavenge for food.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
