Homeowners find bear in their Sierra Madre home

An unexpected guest found its way into a home in Sierra Madre on Wednesday morning, prompting police and wildlife officials to issue warnings to neighbors.

A bear reportedly entered a home in the 100 block of South Hermosa Avenue around 2 a.m. The homeowners suspected a bear was in their home and called 911, the Sierra Madre Police Department said in a statement. Officers were dispatched to the home shortly thereafter.

“I was walking through my courtyard and I glanced to the left where my side door is and it was wide open,” homeowner Chelsea Mapanda told KTLA.

She also said she saw through a window the refrigerator door was open and food was scattered on the floor.

“So I automatically knew that a bear was in my house because we had been alerted that a bear was around,” Mapanda told KTLA.

The bear reportedly left the home on its own at around 8 a.m. Police, using drones, discovered paw prints through one of the back doors of the home, Fox 11 reported. Police said the beat most likely returned to the forest area near the neighborhood.

Upon arrival, police officers heard grunting sounds inside the home and decided to secure the area. Neighboring residents were asked to avoid the area of South Hermosa and Ramona avenues.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials coordinated with police to safely remove the bear from the home.

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