Baby raccoon discovered in Florida woman's backpack during drug arrest: police
Photo: Clearwater Police Department
CLEARWATER, Fla. - A Florida woman was arrested on drug charges over the weekend – but drug paraphernalia wasn't the only thing found in her backpack, police said.
Lindsay Rodewald was pulled over in Clearwater on Saturday for riding her bike without lights on during night hours, according to an arrest affidavit from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. While she was speaking with deputies, she gave verbal consent to be searched.
That's when a broken glass pipe with a crystal residue was found, deputies said. After a field test showed positive results for methamphetamine, Rodewald said she "forgot it was in there" and told deputies she last used meth "a couple of days ago," the affidavit states.
Also in the 43-year-old woman's bag was a baby raccoon that the Clearwater Police Department believes is about a week old. The critter was taken to Veterinary Emergency Group in Tampa to be checked out and will be cared for alongside other young raccoons before being released into the wild.
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Video shared by Clearwater PD on Facebook shows the raccoon yelping as an officer holds it in their arms.
Rodewald was arrested shortly after midnight on Saturday faces charges of possession of drug paraphernalia with the intent to use, the affidavit states. She was granted $150 bond. She was also arrested back in 2018 and 2022 on grand theft and possession of drug paraphernalia charges, respectively.