Earlier this week, Officer Austin Branham of the Springfield Township Police Department in Ohio initiated what should’ve been a routine traffic stop. The vehicle’s registered owner, 55-year-old Victoria Vidal of Akron, had an active warrant and a suspended license. But no amount of experience could have prepared Officer Branham for what he saw next: a raccoon named Chewy, chilling in the driver’s seat… with a meth pipe in its mouth. Yes, you read that right.
After safely detaining Vidal without incident, Officer Branham returned to the car and spotted Chewy mid-binge, glass pipe at the ready, perched like a furry Walter White behind the wheel. The bodycam footage, which dropped faster than a new Netflix special, shows Branham visibly taken aback. “I don’t even know what to say,” he mutters at one point.
A search of the vehicle unearthed a not-so-small cache of narcotics:
- A bulk amount of methamphetamine
- Crack cocaine
- Three used meth pipes
Vidal now faces felony drug charges, plus three counts of paraphernalia possession, and was cited for driving under suspension. Additional charges are pending lab results. Chewy, for her part, was unharmed, though one imagines she has some explaining to do in rehab.
Naturally, the internet did what it does best: turned the whole bizarre ordeal into Reddit gold. The thread that took off included a chorus of incredulous, hilarious, and deeply concerned commenters.
One user offered the obvious legal defense:
“Why was she even charged? Clearly those were the raccoon’s drugs.”
Another chimed in:
“This is a clearcut case of furry privilege. The police needed a scapegoat because they know juries are incredibly reluctant to convict forest creatures.”
And of course, someone pitched the inevitable sequel:
“This confirms the sequel to Cocaine Bear — Crackcoon.”
Others debated whether Vidal even had the proper license to own a raccoon (unclear), whether the raccoon was her dealer (doubtful), or possibly her “service animal” (sure, why not?). Authorities confirmed Chewy’s fate is now in the hands of animal control, who are determining whether Vidal has the legal documentation for raccoon ownership, an administrative footnote in a case already bursting with surrealism.
While Springfield Township police maintained professionalism throughout the encounter, they couldn’t even help but laugh… and who could blame them, honestly!
