Watch as Columbus police recover multiple rodents from legs of man's leopard onesie
As Columbus police officers took a man into custody outside a Far West Side strip mall early Tuesday morning, they made a surprising discovery.
"There's multiple gerbils in his pants," one of the officers says.
Body camera footage from the arrest of the 31-year-old man shows an officer using scissors to cut the legs off the leopard-print onesie the man is wearing.
Inside the right pant leg were two small animals. The officer grabbed one in each hand and shepherded them away to safety.
"The suspect has multiple gerbils in his pants," the officer relays to dispatchers.
A dog collar was found in the man's left pant leg, according to the body camera footage.
Officers also asked the man about other animals and their locations.
"Please don't tell me there's gerbils anywhere else," one officer says.
"For your safety, is there a gerbil inside you," another officer asks the man.
While initially classified by police as gerbils, the animals were actually hamsters.
The animals are believed to have come from the Petland store at the Hilliard Station Shopping Center. Several other animals were also released in the break-in, which was reported around 4 a.m. Tuesday. Multiple other businesses in the shopping center also were broken into around the same time.
All of the hamsters and other animals released during the break-in survived their encounter and were returned to the store.
The man is facing felony charges of breaking and entering and vandalism for a break-in at another store in the shopping center. Additional charges could be filed at a later date.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Video shows Columbus police pull hamsters from man's leopard onesie
