Uproar after Hopedale officer allegedly runs over 'Rocky Raccoon'

"A Christmas Day police response to an aggressive raccoon in a Hopedale neighborhood has ignited online outrage, after witnesses said an officer used a cruiser to run over the animal in front of bystanders, including children. The online outlash prompted Hopedale's town administrator and chief of police to issue a joint statement on Friday, "to address public concern and misinformation" surrounding the incident."

"Additional calls described the raccoon as "disoriented, wobbling, and acting erratically," all behaviors the statement said are consistent with potential rabies infection. Officers located the raccoon and determined that it "posed an immediate and ongoing risk to public health and safety," which promoted intervention, the statement said. Due to the neighborhood's density, the officer determined that use of a firearm was neither safe nor appropriate."

""Officers, therefore, employed the safest available method under the circumstances to euthanize the animal and eliminate the threat," the release said. Officers placed the raccoon on the side of the road for pickup by Animal Control. The release did not say how the officer euthanized the animal. However, social media posts claim the officers repeatedly ran over the animal with a vehicle in front of onlookers, including children."

Hopedale police responded on Dec. 25 to multiple calls reporting an aggressive raccoon that reportedly attacked a person and displayed disoriented, wobbling, and erratic behaviors consistent with potential rabies. Officers located the animal and judged it to pose an immediate and ongoing risk to public health and safety, prompting intervention. An officer determined that firing a weapon was unsafe in the dense neighborhood and employed what officials called the safest available method to euthanize the animal. Officers left the raccoon at the roadside for Animal Control pickup. Social media posts allege the animal was repeatedly run over by a cruiser in front of onlookers, including children, prompting online outrage and a joint town statement backing the officer and urging residents not to dox him.

Read at Boston.com