During the holidays, everyone flocks to the stores to do a little shopping. Apparently, this applies to more than just humans.
In the small town of Charlotte Hall, Maryland, the local Sheriff’s department received a call from a nearby dollar store.
The employees reported a disturbance and requested a police presence. The call was unusual in this quaint little town. Crime is incredibly rare in Charlotte Hall.
The town of Charlotte Hall, Maryland is located in Charles County and St. Mary’s County, on the southern peninsula. The town has a population of just 1,214 residents.
As you may have noticed from the name, the St. Mary’s Sheriff’s department monitors the county, which includes the small area known as Charlotte Hall. St. Mary’s Sheriff’s department is actually the oldest sheriff department in the state of Maryland.
Not a lot happens in Charlotte Hall, other than the recent decorating of the town for Christmas – as seen in this photograph. The Christmas tree lighting was the biggest event in recent months. The entire town came out to celebrate.
So, a disturbance at a local store is big news. After all, this area is mostly known for being home to a large Amish community and having a flea market off of the highway.
Could the Amish be responsible for the mischief at the local store? Unlikely, but just as unlikely as what the police actually found.
As you can imagine, the town of Charlotte Hall doesn’t get a lot of crime. The Sheriff’s department typically spends their time ensuring cyclists are obeying road traffic laws while cruising around on personal transportation devices.
When most of the local traffic is Amish buggies and locals on bicycles, it makes sense to ride around in a two-wheeled scooter.
In the following photograph, you can see a typical view of St. Mary’s County and the surrounding area. This pretty much what you’ll see through most of the region – long roads leading to nowhere. Most of the time, the area is calm and quiet.
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On this particular occasion, the police would discover something totally unexpected. They managed to arrive at the scene of the disturbance before the suspect could flee.
The first order of business is ensuring the safety of the citizens. Luckily, no one was injured. But, the suspect had created a mess.
In one of the photos posted online by the St. Mary’s Sheriff’s department, you can see some of the damage from the incident.
This damage was not the result of frenzied Christmas shoppers. Black Friday had already come and gone before this incident happened. The local stores had already had their share of pushy shoppers.
The incident that occurred on this particular night was something else and was definitely a surprise for everyone involved.
The suspect had apparently made a mess in a few of the aisles of the store. He had walked from aisle to aisle, browsing the shelves, while indiscriminately knocking merchandise to the floor.
The employees had tried to get the suspect to leave, but he kept going about his business. That’s when they decided to call the police.
“Cpl. Yingling had a call for service when the suspect… was witnessed causing property destruction at a store in Charlotte Hall.”
So, what type of person could cause this destruction? Who would want to trash a store during the holidays? Cpl. Yingling from St. Mary’s Sheriff’s department headed over to Charlotte Hall to find out.
The police had originally suspected a drunken local or an angry customer. Instead, they found something entirely different.
After all this fuss, it turns out the suspect in question was a beaver. The employees spotted the little guy browsing the aisles and pushing items to the ground.
The beaver had walked right into the store and walked straight to the Christmas trees. As seen in one photograph, he examined several of the trees, before walking over to the decorations.
It appears that he wasn’t too happy with the selection, as he made a bit of a mess. But, police apprehended him without any issues.
So, what happened after the beaver was stopped from causing further destruction?
“The beaver was safely rescued by animal control and was released to a wildlife rehabilitator.”
That’s a happy ending to an odd story. It certainly made the rounds on local news channels. The beaver, whatever his name may be, got his 15 minutes of fame – as did the town of Charlotte Hall.
