No Trial For Scouts Who Killed Black Bear

Boy Scouts who threw rocks at a black bear to scare it away will not be prosecuted for the animal’s death because autopsy results were inconclusive.

Park rangers said the 100-pound yearling bear was killed by the rocks, some the size of softballs. The autopsy, however, did not prove that the death was anything but an accident, Ranger Scott Gediman said Monday.

Scout leaders of the troop from Huntington Beach told rangers that they were trying to scare the bear away from their food.

“We did what the brochure told us. We started throwing things and making a lot of noise,” Scout leader Ron Roach said. “One of the stones made a thud. It was a pretty sickening sound, and I said, ‘Oh no, I think I hit one.”’