A black bear gets into a car in Alaska, ends up locked inside and wrecks it
The animal opened the door of an unlocked Subaru, the door shut behind it and it couldn't get out. Juneau police freed it in the middle of the night using a rope. The video has gone viral.
Translated from the original Spanish article. Read in Spanish
News published on October 28, 2026. The situation may have changed since then.
A family in Juneau, the capital of Alaska, woke up to a surprise nobody wants: a black bear had spent the night locked inside their car. And it left the car wrecked.
How it got in
The car, a Subaru, was parked unlocked. The bear, probably drawn by the smell of food, opened the door and climbed in. But the door shut behind it and it couldn't get out.
Trapped and nervous, the animal destroyed the interior: seats, ceiling, doors… According to the owner, it also left droppings inside.
Bears can open car doors with their claws if they're unlocked: that's why people in Alaska are advised to always lock them.
The rescue
Just after midnight on Monday, Juneau police arrived to get it out. Since nobody wanted to walk up and open the door with an angry bear inside, the officers tied a rope to the handle and opened it from a distance.
A neighbor, Daniel Nore, filmed the moment: the door opens, the bear bolts out and disappears running into the darkness. That's the video now circulating on every social network.
Not the only car
The owners, Michael and Mistee Wilson, later said the same bear had broken into three other cars in the neighborhood that night. Theirs was the only one where it got trapped.
Why this happens
In the fall, bears eat everything they can before hibernating, and in cities like Juneau, surrounded by forest, they come close to homes looking for food. Authorities advise not leaving food or trash in the car and always locking it.
More stories on video
This story is web-only. Every week on our social media we tell the stories behind brands and the news.
Do you leave your car unlocked? After this, would you do it again?
Tell us in the comments on our social media.
Sources (in Spanish)
- El oso, el rescate y los dueños: UPI vía Yahoo News y BroBible (octubre de 2026).
- El video del rescate: Telemundo y NBC New York.
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons under free licenses; the author and license are shown under each image.
