Glendora Resident Describes Encounter with 400-Pound Bear

Although a Glendora resident was used to seeing bears in his neighborhood on East Sierra Madre Avenue, Friday afternoon was the first time he had seen one in his yard during the day.

Gavin Schofield-Smith told CBS News that he was working on his laptop when he heard his dog Molly growling at the window. When he turned to look, he noticed the eyes of a 400-pound bear staring back at him.

Schofield-Smith said he panicked when he saw the bear so close to his window and called police. Schofield-Smith managed to snap a few photographs of the bear as it peered through the window. He said he is used to seeing bears at night, but not one during daylight.

“The other side of the glass makes no difference if it’s a bear because it can go through the glass in seconds,” Schofield-Smith told CBS News.

Glendora Police arrived around 4 p.m. to Schofield-Smith’s residence on the 300 block of East Sierra Madre Avenue and tried to scare the animal away with pepper balls and bean bags. The commotion seemed to only anger the bear as he lumbered through other yards in the neighborhood, left into the foothills, only to return several times.

By 6 p.m., the bear seemed to have left for good. Officers continued to monitor the bear, reporting another bear sighting on East Sierra Madre and Vista Bonita avenues later that night at 10:47 p.m.

In this case, the bear poked around the front yard of a residence on the 600 block of North Glendora Avenue.

Bears are common visitors in the area. Many of them are attracted to trash left out on the curb, or to water from pools or spas.

Residents are reminded to keep in mind safety tips when encountering bears.