Have you ever been in a situation where an imaginary creature/inanimate object has committed a crime?
When I was young, my mother gave a kitchen chair a good scolding for stubbing my little brother’s toe.
As always, discussion welcome. 
My grandfather quit drinking because one day a chair got up, walked over, and tripped him. Does that count?
It’s not personal experience, but according to Holmes’ The Common Law, in ancient times Trees could commit torts (i.e. assault and the like) for which the owner might be forced to forfeit them to an injured party.
It is still true, even now, that a ship (not the company, not the captain, the ship itself) is the defendant in certain maritime cases.