Security screeners at a court in Honolulu were having a regular, run-of-the-mill day earlier this week when they noticed something unusual as they X-rayed a man's bag – an object appeared to be moving inside. When the guards asked the man, Michael Hubbard, to open his bag, he initially refused. The screeners insisted.
"Deputies told him that if he didn't open the bag, he couldn't enter and that he needed to leave immediately," said Toni Schwartz, public information officer for the Department of Public Safety.
Hubbard continued to resist and, eventually, the deputies escorted him outside. Once outside the courthouse, Hubbard finally gave up and shouted, "There's a live duck in there!"
Inside the bag, the confused deputies found an actual live duck, next to two 40 ounce bottles of beer. When informed he wasn't allowed to bring the duck or beer inside, Hubbard left, only to return once he realized he had to meet with his court officer.
The security team let him store his belongings, duck and all, at their desk while Hubbard went inside. He later returned, grabbed his beer and duck, and left without incident.
"We have no way of knowing if Hubbard was drunk since no one was able to draw blood from him to test his blood alcohol content level. However, the deputies didn't smell any alcohol on his breath," Schwartz told Hawaii News Now.
She later told the Associated Press that it wasn't uncommon for people to bring pets to court.
"A lot of people try to bring their pets to court," she said. "[But] a duck is unusual," she said. "I don't think we've come across that one before."
[Image via AP]