When 17-year-old Ben Story went to sleep, like a lot of folks in rural areas, he wasn’t terribly concerned about the security of his car. After all, he left his Toyota sedan unlocked before bed. That’s why, when he was awakened by his father at about 3:30 in the morning, he assumed that the news about his car was that it was gone. Yes, his car was stolen, but not by any person. As it turns out, a bear stole Ben Story’s car.
“I was in bed and my mom and dad came rushing in saying, ‘Did you lock your car today?’ I said ‘No.’ My dad’s like, ‘It’s gone.’ At that point I was freaking out, and he said, ‘It’s a bear. There is a bear trapped in the car,'” said Ben. As it turns out, the bear had been locked in the car for 45 minutes, honking the horn and thrashing around. Somehow, he got into the car, put it in neutral, and then freaked out when the car started rolling down the driveway.
Said Ben’s father, Ralph Story, “When the cop came up to the car, he thought it was a bunch of kids goofing around. He put a flashlight on it. And he saw this bear turn around, in the driver’s seat, and he turned around and looked at him. And when the cop saw that he said he never ran so fast in his life.” Police eventually freed the bear from the car by tying a long rope to the door, opening the car, and waiting. The bear left the Toyota at about 5 AM, where he was arrested and charged with a DUI.
Tags: bear steals car, Ben Story, Larkspur, Colorado, Douglas County, bear car thief, Toyota stolen by bear, unusual animals, bear locked in car honks horn for 45 minutes, animal thief