COLUMBUS, Ohio — Matthew Pancake was arrested this week in Columbus after a string of break-ins involving pet stores where he allegedly let animals loose in shopping mall parking lots.
Pancake, who was identified by wearing a leopard print one-piece, was eventually arrested by police after a member of the public reported her to the police, who later discovered a hamster stuffed in her pants.
An Ohio judge set Pancake’s bail at $10,000 for the trespassing case. Amazingly, no animals were harmed, even though Pancake was pinned to the ground by officers who could be heard on body cameras yelling, “Get on your stomach, Pancake!” Officers then had to round up a number of escaped animals, including dogs and birds, one of which bit an officer’s finger.
In the video above, police can be heard yelling, “There’s a gerbil in my pants!”, but upon closer inspection, the rodent turns out to be a hamster, not a gerbil. The main differences between hamsters and gerbils are the length of their tails and faces, with gerbils having a long, prominent tail and a thin, rat-like face. Hamsters, on the other hand, traditionally have short, thick tails and broad faces. Additionally, the common domestic gerbil is a descendant of the desert rat of Turkmenistan, while hamsters are generally considered a “New World rodent” native to the Americas.
Pancake was charged with trespass, theft and criminal damage to property.
