Black Bear And Cub Destroy Car After Getting Trapped Inside

WINSTED, Conn. (AP) — Trapped inside a car, the adult black bear and cub thrashed about. The horn was blaring and the radio blasting. Outside the car, a second cub ran around in apparent distress by the Connecticut home.

State environmental conservation police were called by the startled vehicle owner on the morning of July 15. They opened a door, and the two bears ran off into the woods safe and sound with the third bear. The car’s interior, however, wasn’t so fortunate: It was completely torn apart.

The incident in Winsted, in the state’s northwest corner not far from Massachusetts, was documented in photos and video taken by the car’s owner, who captured images of the bears in the car and the resulting destruction on a cellphone. Officials believe they got in the vehicle by opening a door, but it’s not clear how the door then closed.

Over a week, there have been three episodes involving bears in Connecticut that were publicly reported by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection — another sign of the increasing black bear population in the state.

On Saturday, a woman reported being bitten by a black bear in a backyard in Cheshire. She suffered minor injuries and declined treatment, officials said. Environmental conservation police found and euthanized the bear, which was taken away for testing.

On Sunday, a nearly 500-pound (227-kilogram) black bear was struck and killed by a car on a highway in Torrington, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said.

While bears have been breaking into cars, trash bins and homes in the western U.S. for a long time, such incidents were rare in Connecticut a few decades ago. They’re now a growing phenomenon.

In June, a black bear was shot to death in