Black Couple Finds Decapitated Stuffed Animal Hanging in Tree

Commerce Township, MI — Authorities are investigating an African-American couple’s discovery of a decapitated stuffed animal found hanging from a rope in a tree in the back yard of their Commerce Township home as an act of ethnic intimidation.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that the couple made the unsettling discovery about 10 a.m. Saturday at their home on the 9000 block of Gittins Blvd.

The animal’s head had been cut off and its arms were taped behind its back, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

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The couple and their family have lived on Lower Straits Lake for more than two years.

In another instance, the complainant told police that a neighbor and friend of the couple hosted a barbecue. The complainant said that while his wife was in the yard, someone called out a racial slur.

Additional details were not released, and the sheriff’s asked anyone with knowledge of the incidents to call (248) 858-4951