A woman in Canton, Connecticut, saw the lights of her car go off Friday night and soon realized the culprit was not a burglar but an adult bear — and the amount of damage it did was astounding.
Linda Morad said she was housesitting for a friend who was on vacation when she saw the lights of her car going off.
“I had my phone on 911 and I came partially down toward the car, and I heard noise, so I hit the send button on the 911,” Morad said.
She did not see the culprit through the tinted glass and told police what she heard. Officers showed up in minutes.
“And from inside the house, I saw them open the door and let the bear out – a full-sized bear,” Morad said.
PHOTOS: Bear Gets Stuck in Car in Canton and Destroys It
Then, police warned her about the condition of her car.
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“They said, ‘You’re not going to believe what your car looks like.’ I thought, ‘Well, I’ll clean it tomorrow’” Morad said.
Then she saw the damage. The dashboard, the leather seats, the trunk and the hatchback were all torn to pieces.
“I don’t think this could be cleaned!” Morad said.
The bear had somehow gotten in through the unlocked driver’s side door of the vehicle, according to Morad.
“And the door closed behind him, and apparently he was frantic,” she said.
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Now Morad is borrowing a car, locking the doors and waiting on the insurance adjuster.
She said she does not blame the bear.
“This is a fluke. It’s like getting struck by lightning or hitting the lottery. How many times would it ever happen?” Morad said.
Bears are becoming more common in Connecticut as the population grows, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and they urge people to take some precautions to avoid attracting bears. That includes keeping garbage cans in the garage. See more tips here.
In the past year, there have been nearly 6,900 bear sightings in Connecticut, including 201 in Canton.
