A Virginia liquor store just got hit with the most ridiculous break-in of the year
Bar owners and liquor store managers deal with plenty of headaches from drunk customers.
But one Virginia ABC store got hit with a problem they never saw coming.
And a Virginia liquor store just got hit with the most ridiculous break-in of the year.
The masked bandit struck right after Thanksgiving
Employees at the Ashland ABC Store in Virginia came into work Saturday morning expecting a normal day after the Thanksgiving holiday.
What they found instead looked like the aftermath of a full-blown party.
Smashed bottles littered the floor with alcohol pooling everywhere, several shelves were ransacked, and a ceiling tile had collapsed.
The store's security system had been damaged, triggering a power outage alert from the security company.
And that's when they discovered the culprit passed out cold in the bathroom.
The suspect wasn't some drunken college kid or bar-hopping troublemaker.
It was a raccoon.
"I personally like raccoons," animal control officer Samantha Martin told the Associated Press. "They are funny little critters. He fell through one of the ceiling tiles and went on a full-blown rampage, drinking everything."¹
The "masked bandit" had broken through the ceiling sometime during the early morning hours of Saturday, November 29, and helped himself to the bottom shelf inventory.
Photos from the scene show the intoxicated animal face-down on the bathroom floor between the toilet and trash can, completely unconscious.
Officer Martin with Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter responded to what she described as "a very unusual call."
She found approximately 30 to 40 bottles destroyed and the nocturnal burglar passed out drunk in the restroom.
"He locked himself in the bathroom, passed out drunk, after he probably knocked over a good 30 to 40 bottles of liquor," Martin stated.²
Virginia ABC spokesman Billy Fellin said the raccoon damaged 14 bottles of spirits worth about $250.³
The animal appeared to have a taste for scotch and whiskey, including Jameson, based on the destruction left behind.
Officer Martin transported the suspect to sober up
Martin safely secured the very intoxicated raccoon and transported him back to the shelter.
The Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter posted about the incident on social media, dubbing it a "Black Friday Break-In."
"Officer Martin responded to a very unusual call at the Ashland ABC Store. Upon arrival, she discovered the 'suspect' had broken in, ransacked several shelves, and then . . . passed out in the bathroom. The suspect? A very intoxicated raccoon," the shelter wrote.
Martin said she couldn't help but laugh during the transport.
"Another day in the life of an animal control officer, I guess," Martin said.⁴
After several hours of sleep at the shelter, officials checked the raccoon for injuries.
The animal showed zero signs of physical harm other than what staff jokingly described as "maybe a hangover and poor life choices."
Once the raccoon sobered up completely, he was safely released back into the wild.
"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 wrote in their Facebook post.⁵
The agency commended Officer Martin for handling the chaotic scene with professionalism and good humor.
Virginia ABC also thanked Hanover County Animal Control for "providing our visitor with a sober ride home."
This party animal might be a repeat offender
The story went viral on social media with thousands of reactions and comments.
Hanover Animal Protection and Shelter Chief Jeffery Parker said his phone started ringing off the hook after posting about the incident.
"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 explained.⁶
But here's where it gets even more interesting.
A neighboring business, Rise Martial Arts, revealed they had a similar break-in about a year ago.
"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, recalled.⁷
Parker confirmed people have been messaging him asking if it could be the same raccoon.
The incident drew locals and tourists to visit the ABC store just to see the scene of the crime.
Ashley Brown and her daughter Quincy went to check it out for themselves.
"I thought it was just a generic viral post that happened somewhere else," Brown said. "I was stunned that it just happened up the street from our house."⁸
Quincy gave the party animal a name: "Racooney-coon."
Hunter Southall, who works in the area, had a good laugh when he heard what happened.
"He must have been going through a lot of stuff," Southall joked. "Must have just been too stressed out. Kids at home . . ."⁹
Only in America would a raccoon break into a liquor store, get plastered on bottom-shelf booze, and pass out in the bathroom like he just had the night of his life.
At least he had the decency to sleep it off before animal control arrived.
And hopefully he learned his lesson about breaking and entering, though given the possible repeat offense at Rise Martial Arts, this particular raccoon might need more than just a stern warning.
¹ Samantha Martin, "Raccoon goes on drunken rampage in Virginia liquor store," Associated Press, December 3, 2025.
² Samantha Martin, "'Passed out drunk': Raccoon breaks into ABC store," WRIC, December 3, 2025.
³ Billy Fellin, "Raccoon breaks into store and trashes it in 'liquor fueled rampage,'" Newsweek, December 3, 2025.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter, Facebook post, December 2, 2025.
⁶ Jeffery Parker, "Raccoon breaks into Ashland ABC store, passes out in bathroom," WWBT, December 2, 2025.
⁷ Madison Blair, Ibid.
⁸ Ashley Brown, Ibid.
⁹ Hunter Southall, "'Passed out drunk': Raccoon breaks into ABC store," WRIC, December 3, 2025.
