Police have arrested a suspect accused of breaking into several stores in Hilliard, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio.
Matthew Pancake, 31, was wearing a leopard-print jumpsuit when he was dragged out of the mall by an attacker early Tuesday morning.
Police say Pancake ‘smashed the glass of the front door’ of a Famous Footwear store shortly after 2 a.m., WSYX reported.
He is also accused of breaking into a Roosters restaurant and a Petland, which could explain what police found in his pockets at the time of his arrest.
Two hamsters were stuffed into the pockets of Pancake’s overalls, and an officer was later photographed holding the tiny furry creatures in his hands.
Matthew Pancake, 31, is seen sleeping on a bench less than a mile from the pet store shortly after he allegedly broke in.
A Columbus police officer is seen holding the two hamsters found in Pancake’s pockets.
Following Pancake’s alleged break-in spree at the Hilliard-Rome Road mall, police found merchandise from all three stores strewn across the sidewalks outside.
Police were apparently one step behind their suspect, receiving the call about the robbery at Petland while they were still investigating what happened at Roosters.
“My officers in the area, a short distance from here at Petland, noticed several animals running around the parking lot,” said Columbus Police Sgt. Joe Albert.
“The officers managed to round up as many animals as they could. They rounded up several rabbits, birds… and a couple of puppies,” he added.
Police were able to rescue the hamsters from Pancake’s pockets and return them safely to the pet store.
Some of the kennels inside the store were smashed with a rock, one of Petland’s owners said, allowing the canines to run free for a while.
Pancake was charged with vandalism and trespassing. His first court hearing will be on Wednesday morning.
A bird that escaped from the store after the robbery is perched on an officer’s shoulder.
Another bird was captured outside in the pet store parking lot.
After the animals allegedly escaped from prison, Pancake was found asleep in overalls near a Big Lots parking lot, just under a mile from the pet store.
Police body camera footage obtained by 10Television showed officers approaching him as he dozed on the bench.
They then threw him to the ground, startling him awake.
—In the name of the law, get on your stomach, Pancake! —one of the officers shouted as they tried to push him to the ground.
“What’s going on?” Pancake asked. “Are you kidding me? What the fuck?”
He then asked why he was being arrested and the officers easily explained why.
The group of officers arresting Pancake laugh as they find the hamsters in the pockets of his unusual outfit.
Pancake is pictured in the back of a police patrol car.
According to the police, an officer noticed something moving in the suspect’s pocket.
Everyone burst out laughing when they realized what they had found.
“There are several gerbils in his pants,” one police officer said in disbelief.
This unusual case, more than anything else, made Albert evaluate the complexity of his job.
“In the same day you can respond to a shooting, you can respond to a missing person, you can save someone’s life and then you can chase rabbits into the parking lot of a business that was just robbed,” the officer added.
Pancake was charged with vandalism and trespassing.
His first court date will be on Wednesday morning.
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