Bear’s Basket Empty Four-Legged Shopper Cruises The Mall, Flees Police

Living in the forest apparently is fine, until you need a casserole dish.

All seemed quiet here Tuesday, when a police officer cruised the Factory Outlets mall about 2 a.m. There was the Pfaltzgraff store, sleepy with morning dark. Ditto with the next store. And the next.

Then, stirring by the storefront ahead was something - a burglar? Taking his cruiser in closer, officer Ian Johnson saw it: The culprit that suddenly made a loping break for it was a bear.

“This is just a fluke,” shrugged police Sgt. Scot Haug. “We always get the skunks, porcupines and raccoons - but nothing like this.”

The camera in Johnson’s car was rolling and taped the hairy pursuit. The youngish bear took off, fleeing from the headlights. It got to Toy Liquidators, stopped, turned around, then stared at the glowing monstrosity gaining from behind.

Yogi then took a leap at the Corning Revere Warehouse Outlet, bounced off the glass and bounded down the sidewalk.

“Thank goodness it held up,” Haug said. “With the size and strength of that bear, I’m surprised it did.”

Johnson followed the bear until it ran into a field. Later that day, there was no sign of it, save a window smudge that may have been the work of a muzzle.

“I hadn’t heard anything about it,” said Kym Morrison, hawking dinnerware and kitchen gadgets at Corning Revere. After learning about the critter’s attempted leap into retail, Morrison wasn’t surprised the windows stayed intact. “They withstood all the windstorms, so …”

The animal likely was a black bear, even though it looks brown on tape. “They can be black, cinnamon or brown,” said Fish and Game’s Nancy Casner.

Police weren’t worried about anyone getting mauled, because no one was around. And police don’t expect the bear to come back.

“What I say to people is, the bear doesn’t want to be around people any more than they want to be around the bear,” Haug said.

Police would worry if the bear came back during shopping hours. In Post Falls, the police are animal control officers, too.

“We’re not prepared for this kind of stuff,” Haug said. Police would have to call Fish and Game officials. “They understand bears.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo