Bear’s 2 a.m. adventure through California downtown caught on video

A black bear paid a visit to downtown Healdsburg, California, early Friday morning, but all ended well for both ursine and human inhabitants along the Russian River.

Emergency dispatcher Linda Haviland told The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat that she received the first calls about the bear at 2:13 a.m. Friday. Callers reported seeing a bear running north on First Avenue after coming up from the river.

Officers kept an eye on the bear as it roamed around downtown Healdsburg, as well as nearby residences, for about 45 minutes. Police notified the California Department of Fish and Wildlife about the bear, but “as long as it’s not aggressive in any way, we just leave it alone,” Haviland told the publication.

On its way out of town, the bear even paid a visit to a parking lot behind the Healdsburg police station, reported KPIX.

“They’re pretty shocked the bear made it to the back parking lot of the police department and was wandering around our vehicles and our back parking lot, so rather unusual,” Healdsburg Police Sgt. Nick Castaneda told the TV station.

The bear eventually wandered back down the Russian River without incident.

A police video of part of the bear’s jaunt posted to Facebook by the Healdsburg Police Officer’s Association on Friday had been viewed 273,000 times by midday Sunday.

This story was originally published May 20, 2018 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Bear’s 2 a.m. adventure through California downtown caught on video."