Black bear spotted in San Dimas neighborhood

SAN DIMAS, Calif. (KABC) -- A 100-pound young black bear was captured in a San Dimas neighborhood Tuesday morning.

According to San Dimas Sheriff's, a resident in 1600 block of Grasscreek Drive first spotted the bear just after 9 p.m. Monday. The resident tried scaring it away with a blow horn to no avail.

Then around 1 a.m., the bear popped up again in Irama Ashraf's backyard.

"I was watching TV and then I saw some big animal walking on the wall, and I got so scared, I called 911," said Ashraf.

The furry visitor wandered over to Ashraf's koi pond but opted not to have sushi for a late night snack. Instead, the bear busted open a container of fish food, had a few bites and moved on.

Fish and game wardens say the bear may have been in search of something to eat and picked the right day to move south.

"I'm not saying bears can calculate, but they seem to know when the trash cans are out," said Stephens.

Fish and game officials waited for daylight to tranquilize the animal. By that time, the bear was roaming among the trees in the 800 block of Baseline Road. The bear was hit with a tranquilizer but took off down Baseline Road for about four or five blocks.

"As soon as the dart went in he didn't move, and then he moved away from us and actually ran a little bit, and it took about 15 minutes for the full effect of the tranquilizer to make him fully unconscious," said Larry Stephens with the Department of Fish and Game.

Fish and Game has since released the bear back to the Angeles National Forest. No residents were injured.

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