Bear Breaks Into Monrovia Home, Raids Refrigerator

OUTSIDE LOS ANGELES -- A bear broke into a hillside home Sunday and raided the refrigerator, chowing down on pork chops before the homeowner could scare it away.

Hillside resident and former Monrovia Mayor Lara Larramendi discovered the soaking wet bear as it tried to enter the back door of her Monrovia home on Hidden Valley Road. She shooed the animal away, but not before it ate her Sunday dinner.

"...When I turn around, I see that he came into the kitchen, went through our garbage and opened the refrigerator and ate the 4 boneless pork loin steaks that were for dinner and the BBQ sauce was next to it," Larramendi posted on Facebook. "Very scary."

Larramendi reported the bear to police at about 11:26 a.m., according to Monrovia Police Sgt. Glen Coleman. A Monrovia Animal Control officer followed the bear back into the wilderness, Coleman said.

Larramendi has a pond on her property and the bear apparently went swimming in it before dining on her pork loin steaks, she said.

And it left a parting gift for Larramendi as well. She and her neighbor each had to clean up a big pile of bear poop after the animal wandered back into the forest.