Bear Gets Into Conn. Man's Car, Causes Extensive Damage

Yes, you're reading this right!

A black bear made its way into a Cornwall resident's truck and caused extensive damage.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) said they responded to a request for help after a bear was seen in a resident's vehicle.

EnCon Police said the bear caused extensive damage to the car's interior. A conservation officer helped get it out by deploying a bean bag round to haze the bear away.

Officials don't know how the bear made it into the car. But it surely is an experience Cody Gillotti won't ever forget.

"I was laying down on the couch and I had seen the lights turn on in my mother-in-law's car and it was kind of shiny," he said.

Gillotti knew in that moment that something strange was happening. So, he went down to the car and the lights were on. Gillotti then saw a bunch of frost all over the windows.

"I knew something was in it, I just didn't know what," Gillotti said. "It looked like a teenage kid that just passed out in his car after a long night of partying and his mom caught him."

The bear even took his daughter's car seat out of his truck before moving onto the mother-in-law's car.

"We get bears around here all the time. They never get in cars so I really didn't think it was a bear right away. Then I got closer to it and it grunted, I scared it and went back inside," he continued.

That's when he called EnCon Police and an officer showed up. He got a rope, tied it up to the door handle and the bear seemingly just exploded with energy.

"It was really, really scared when we got close to it. It was almost like a deer in headlights, it was stunned," Gillotti said.

The bear's eyes didn't really move, but rather stayed focused on Gillotti and the officer while they tried to get it out of the truck.

"I think he opened it up and there was no food in my truck. There was an empty McDonald's bag and a couple other things in her car so I think he kind of just moved things around my seat looking for stuff, couldn't find anything and then left and went into [my mother-in-law's] car," Gillotti said.

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"Unfortunately the car is completely wrecked. There's pretty much no interior left," he said. "He definitely let loose in there."

Gillotti said the bear made sure to mark his territory.

"It stinks to high heaven," he said.

No one was injured during the incident. Gillotti has no doubt the bear will come around again soon.

"I'm sure it'll be back," Gillotti said.

To learn more about what to do if you encounter a bear, you can visit DEEP's website.