Furry surprise greets officers when they search backpack for drugs, Florida cops say

Officers found a furry surprise inside a woman’s backpack when they searched it for drugs, according to a Florida police department.

The “cute little critter” was a week-old raccoon, according to the Clearwater Police Department.

Officers found the creature after stopping a woman on her bicycle because she was riding without lights at night, according to WFLA.

In addition to the animal, officers found a “broken glass pipe with crystal residue” in her backpack, the outlet reported. The residue was identified as methamphetamine through a field test, according to the outlet.

The woman was arrested June 17 and charged with possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to Pinellas County court records. She was not charged with any counts related to the raccoon.

Police brought the baby raccoon to a veterinary hospital where it was evaluated, according to a post on the Clearwater Police Department’s Facebook page.

The animal will be taken care of alongside other young raccoons until it can, hopefully, be released into the wild, according to police.

The woman’s bond was set at $2,150, according to Pinellas County jail records.

Clearwater is about 25 miles west of Tampa.

This story was originally published June 19, 2023 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Furry surprise greets officers when they search backpack for drugs, Florida cops say."