Colorado police officer finds live rattlesnake in car during drug bust

DENVER ( KDVR ) — A Colorado police officer found a lot more than common paraphernalia while searching a car for drugs Sunday night.

The officer was checking trailheads at Prospect Park in Wheat Ridge when he spotted a car with drug paraphernalia in plain sight, according to the Wheat Ridge Police Department.

“Around the same time, the car’s owner was dropped off [at] the location by an Uber,” the department said in a statement posted on the social media platform X .

The owner told police a friend borrowed the car and told the owner to pick up the vehicle at that location. The owner also gave the officer consent to search the car.

During the search, the officer found drugs, a gun and a large plastic bin. Body camera footage shows him opening the bin only to find a fully-grown rattlesnake inside.

“Yo, you got a rattlesnake in here? What the (expletive) dude. Are you kidding me? There’s a (expletive) live rattlesnake in this bin,” the officer said in the video.

The car owner appeared just as shocked as the officer.

“Does he have any other thing that might bite me?” the officer said while he continued looking inside the car.

The owner will not face charges at this time. Police are still trying to contact the owner’s friend, as they still have “a lot of questions.”

The full-body camera video was posted on the Wheat Ridge Police Department’s social media accounts . According to the department, the police booked the drugs and the gun but left the snake. The police recommended the owner take it to the 24-hour vet.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.