Police have issued an apology after an officer was recorded on a doorbell camera taping a bag of milk to a confused resident's door.
The apology came after a video of the officer taping the small sandwich bag to the door, and the resident's reaction to finding it, went viral on TikTok.
In the footage from, Texas, US, the male officer can be seen approaching the door where he uses a small bit of tap to fasten it, before knocking a few times.
Dealing with anything first thing in the morning can be difficult, but when it's wildly unexpected it can be all the harder.
In the video, the resident opens his door the next morning and stops for a good few seconds when he spots the bag of milk. He then can be heard exclaiming: "What the f*** is that?"
The time stamp in the video reads 5.40am.
The resident is a radio personality known by the DJ name JR, who works on the local radio station The Red Dirt Rebel. He has denied any involvement in the incident which has now jokingly being referred to as Milk-Gate.
Speculation whirled online about why the bag of milk was left and whether indeed it was even milk.
As more people joined in the debate, the police department the officer worked for, in Lubbock, Texas, issued a statement on Facebook to "clear the air".
A spokesperson wrote: "One of our officers was called to the 5200 block of Bangor Avenue yesterday at 7:37 p.m. for a check subject call. The officer spoke with the caller who told him someone specific left the bag with an 'opaque white liquid that appeared to be milk on their door and they wanted the officer to return it to what they believed was the correct apartment."
They went on to apologise for the "confusion caused" saying: "So, our officer did just that. Although the officer thought he was doing a good deed, based off the video footage captured, we recognize this was not the best course of action.
"We apologize for any confusion the video may have caused without knowing the full story!"
When asked if had smelled, licked or touched the liquid before binning it, JR later told Red Dirt Rebel: "I absolutely did not."
Local paper Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported that the person who first called it in had been frequently pranked and presumed the neighbour in the nearby apartment was responsible for leaving the bag.
Despite the statement from the police, many thought it didn't really explain what had happened.
Commenting under the police's statement, one Facebook user said: "That is such a weak excuse. Why call the police to handle a situation as described. There is more to this story."
Another said: "Suuuuuuper glad knowing my tax dollars are funding this. Feel so much safer"
But others were supportive of the police.
One 'Top Fan' of the LPD's page wrote: "I'm certain LPD was doing their job, who would know what white liquid was in the bag and really none of our business. LPD took care of it."
Another user said: "If this is LPD's biggest police scandal, I'm calling it a win, state & nationally speaking."
