Man prevents disaster by guiding possibly rabid black bear out of NJ dollar store

🐻 Black bear wandered into a Vernon Dollar General, biting a woman in the leg before being guided out.

🚨 Officials say the bear acted erratically earlier on Route 94 and may have had rabies.

⚠️ The 175-pound bear was later euthanized, sparking concern over open dumpsters attracting wildlife.

VERNON — It's not unusual to see a bear in Sussex County. It is unusual, however, to see one inside a store.

A female black bear wandered into a Dollar General store on Route 94 on Tuesday afternoon and bit a 90-year-old woman in the leg, according to state Fish & Wildlife officials. The woman was taken to a hospital.

Bear spotted behaving erratically on Route 94

The 175-pound bear will be tested for rabies but the results will not be known for three to five days.

Earlier in the day, the bear had been spotted on Route 94, where the DEP says it was "behaving erratically and moving in and out of traffic," which is a sign of rabies. Vernon police fired rubber bullets at the bear, causing it to flee into the woods.

Video captures dramatic Dollar General incident

The bear was guided verbally out of the store by real estate agent Sean Clarkin. The incident was caught on video and posted to Facebook by The Garden State.

"Let's go, buddy. You are one big, nasty motherf***er," Clarkin says and whistles. "This way. Keep coming. C'mon buddy. Good boy!"

The bear walks past the frozen food section and the shopping carts as it makes its way to the front of the store.

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'The bear is definitely hungry'

They finally make it to the front exit and out the door. Clarkin continues to guide the bear vocally away from people in the parking lot.

"Freedom, buddy. Freedom. Rock and roll," Clarkin says. "You're out of here."

He also yells at the shoppers to get out of the bear's path.

"I would get away! Get away! Walk away! The bear is hungry. The bear is definitely hungry," Clarkin says.

Bear euthanized as officials cite dumpster problems

The bear was later euthanized by police.

Clarkin, in a separate post, blamed open and unlocked dumpsters for attracting bears into populated areas of Vernon.

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