By Katy Savage
KILLINGTON—Stephen Klepner’s parents jumped out of bed around 1 a.m. Sunday, June 17 to the sound of their car horn honking and dogs barking.
A bear had locked itself inside their 2010 Subaru Forester on Coffeehouse Road in Killington. It was leaning against the horn and all the airbags were blowing.
“We have a motion light so they saw right away what it was,” Klepner said.
His parents, who weren’t available for comment, immediately called the local game warden but the bear had freed itself after about an hour by bending over the front car door while the game warden was on his way.
“We don’t know why it got into the car,” said Lt. Justin Stedman. “There is no good reason why it got in there.”
The owners had used the car earlier that day to dump a load of trash but there was no food or trash when the bear made its way into the car.
Stedman said bears are known to break into houses and camps. “They are intelligent and quite dexterous,” Stedman said.
He warned people to lock their doors.
“The bears know to pull on the door handle,” he said. “They’re like a young child. They fiddle with something until they figure it out.”
The bear chewed the seats and the seat belts of the car. It also broke the glass windows.
“We obviously submitted the damages to insurance,” Klepner said. “It’s our primary mode of transportation and we are hoping to get it fixed since we can’t afford a new car.”
Photo submitted
A bear destroyed the interior of a 2002 Subaru Forester after locking itself inside overnight on Saturday.