New Jersey

Bear Shot Dead After Breaking Into New Jersey Home, Caught Eating Cat Food, Peppermint Patties in Living Room

Police in New Jersey shot and killed a 3-year-old female black bear after it broke into a home through a basement window and sneaked into the family room, where the owner found it eating cat food and YORK Peppermint Patties.

The West Milford homeowner called police after spotting the 200-pound bruin in her living room shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday; the caller then fled the house.

Authorities say two officers responded. When they got there, one of the officers saw the bear leave the same window it used to get into the home. The officer shot the bear.

No one was injured.

The homeowner said she couldn't sleep Thursday night she was so frightened; she said every time she heard a sound she feared it was a bear approaching. 

The bear didn't make much of a mess at the woman's home, aside from leaving some chocolates dumped in the family room and ruining the screen on the window it used to get inside.

The homeowner says she plans to put bars on her back window. She says she's lived on the three-acre property her entire life and never experienced a fright like the one she did Thursday morning.

Bears that enter homes are considered immediate threats and are put down to save people's lives, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

The Passaic County town has had "a lot of bear issues," according to police. It's not clear if Thursday was the first time one of the creatures entered a person's home.

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