A sheriff’s deputy took a big risk to free a bear trapped in a car in California recently, and it was all caught on camera.
It started with a call to police about a bear stuck in a vehicle in a populated residential area in Lake Tahoe.
Deputy Dave Lade carefully broke one of the car windows, then ran as fast as he could as the bear escaped, presumably back into the wild.
The car’s interior was apparently damaged, but there were no injuries.
Police say bears in the area have figured out how to open car doors in search of food, but they’re not so good at getting out.
Officials prefer to release trapped bears back into the wild and ask visitors to Lake Tahoe not to leave food inside vehicles.