San Antonio Heights bear is dead
Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 07/30/2009 05:17:00 PM PDT
A black bear seen throughout neighborhoods of San Antonio Heights for the past couple of months had his final adventure into the community on Wednesday.
The bear, known by some San Antonio Heights residents as "Boo Boo," was shot and killed by a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy about 5:30 p.m. on the Upland side of 24th Street.
Reports from residents and the Sheriff's Department tell different tales of the circumstances surrounding the bear's death.
Some residents contend the bear, often seen rummaging through trash cans or cooling off in swimming pools, was not a threat and should not have been killed.
Others were relieved the bear was shot before it had a chance to harm anyone.
The Sheriff's Department had received several calls on Wednesday from residents claiming to have seen the bear in their backyards, sheriff's spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire said.
About 4:30 p.m., the bear was hoping fences from backyard to backyard, causing some damage along the way, and eventually went into the street, she said.
"When the department arrived on the scene, the bear turned around and confronted our deputy, which is then when he shot the bear," Wiltshire said.
Don Caldwell, who lives a couple doors down from where the bear laid to rest,
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witnessed much of the incident from his driveway.
Caldwell said he saw the bear running away from the sheriff's vehicle.
The deputy "took a shot at the cub and laid him down in his tracks," Caldwell said. "The bear was screaming and yelping and crying."
The bear was shot two more times, Caldwell said.
"I think (the deputy) had paused in between shootings and I could see he was thinking about what he was doing," Caldwell said. "I didn't talk to the officer after that because I was highly upset."
Around the time the sheriff's deputy was chasing down the bear, Ellen Christensen was driving to her home on 24th Street when she saw some kids running down the street.
"They were scared ... they kept looking behind him," Christensen said. "They were running and not paying attention to traffic. My focus was on them. I didn't notice the sheriff car or bear."
The bear was then shot across the street from her home.
"It's pretty scary," Christensen said. "Under the circumstance, I think (the deputy) had no choice."
There were no reports that the bear was chasing the children, Wiltshire said.
The California Department of Fish and Game did not arrive at the scene until after the bear was killed.
When a bear makes its way into a neighborhood, law enforcement has the authority to take actions that they feel are necessary to protect the public, said Harry Morse, spokesman for the Department of Fish and Game.
"In this case, they shot the bear," Morse said.
The bear was caught by the Department of Fish and Game in June after it's journey into Upland. The bear was tagged in the ear and relocated 15 miles into the mountains, Morse said.
"We've made several efforts and the bear has broken into homes, so this is unfortunately the result of bears becoming habituated to human food and it does not end well with wildlife," Morse said.
sandra.emerson@inlandnewspapers.com
(909) 483-8555
