Hit-and-run bear flees the scene of North Carolina highway crash

June 1 (UPI) -- Authorities in North Carolina said a hit-and-run bear fled into the woods after colliding with a car traveling on a stretch of interstate in Charlotte.

The Charlotte Fire Department's communication center confirmed firefighters were dispatched Wednesday night to the scene of a crash involving a bear on Interstate 485, near Exit 57.

"Well tonight was a first for us...we dispatched on an Motor Vehicle Accident...a car versus a BEAR on I-485," the center tweeted.

Kaleb Romero, the driver involved in the crash, said his car collided with the bear at about 10:30 p.m.

"I was just driving down the highway in the left lane," Romero told WBTV. "Out of the corner of my eye I just see this black bear -- probably like 110 pounds -- ran out right in front of me. Slammed on my breaks, smoked it."

Romero told State Highway Patrol troopers the bear fled into the woods after the crash.

The extent of the bear's injuries were unknown, but some of its hair was left behind on the dented front-end of Romero's car.