A 29-year-old Lynnwood man and a ferret of undetermined age are in custody following a shoplift-turned-robbery at a North Seattle hardware store.

Around 5:40 pm on Wednesday, security at the hardware store in the 11600 block of Aurora Avenue North confronted two men they suspected were stealing power tool battery packs from the store.

The two men attacked the security guards one suspect threw elbows, the other a backpack, which contained a live ferret.

The suspects dropped some of the merchandise and fled the store, but officers found the 29-year-old man a few blocks away. Officers recovered a battery pack from his pants and discovered he had several warrants. He claimed not to know the ferret-wielding-suspect’s owner and said he’d only met him a few hours earlier.

Police booked the man into the King County Jail and turned the ferret over to the Seattle Animal Shelter.