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| Suspect calls raccoon deaths 'accident' By Mark Noack [ mark@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 2:04 PM PDT An animal-cruelty suspect says running over a group of raccoons behind Strawflower Village last month was an accident. Half Moon Bay Police have been investigating a possible case of animal cruelty after a 24-year-old local driver reportedly accelerated straight into a group of more than 50 raccoons behind the Safeway supermarket. The car killed two and likely injured several more raccoons. The animals were known to gather regularly behind the supermarket to scavenge food. Witnesses gave police the license number and a description of the Honda sedan. Using that information, police were able to locate both suspects and question them. Both suspects say their vehicle ran over the raccoons as they were driving away from the supermarket. The driver later told police he wasn’t paying close attention to the road when he hit the animals. “The driver was talking to the passenger and all of a sudden he heard these thumps,” said Police Chief Don O’Keefe. “He maintains it was all an accident.” The driver and a passenger both told police they left the scene after running over the animals, not because they feared prosecution for killing the animals, but rather for a different crime – the driver was unlicensed. Police investigators have forwarded the case to the district attorney’s office for review. |