By msnbc.com staff
A large black bear entered a La Crescenta, Calif. garage early Wednesday morning and dined on Costco meatballs, then returned later that evening, television station KTLA reported.
Homeowner Joey Ball told the station that he heard noises around 3 a.m. Wednesday morning. When he opened his garage door, he found the bear sitting next to the refrigerator, eating the meatballs and tuna.
“He looked at me and I thought, ‘uh-oh!’ So I slammed the door and locked the dead bolt,” Ball told KTLA. “You could hear him eating, slapping his gums,” Ball added.
As a KTLA camera crew was at the home to report the story that night, the bear tried to get back into the garage. The station captured footage of the bear in Ball’s backyard. The station spotted the bear rummaging through trash cans in the same neighborhood a few hours later.
Neighbor Mark Edelstein told the station that his family doesn’t take their dog out for walks at night and for a while was not putting their trash cans out overnight.
City officials are warning residents against leaving food out in the open and urges anyone who spots the bear to contact the police, the Los Angeles Times reported.
La Crescenta is 15 miles north of Los Angeles.
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