Bear gets trapped in Montana couple's car for nearly 8 hours

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A Montana couple said they are in the market for a new car after a bear entered their vehicle and ended up spending the night when the door closed behind the animal.

Mike and Maria Pilati said their car alarm went off while the vehicle was parked outside their Red Lodge home Wednesday night and a quick investigation determined a mother bear had entered the vehicle while her cubs watched from nearby.

"We called the sheriff's department [and] said, 'There's a bear breaking into our car,'" Mike Pilati told KTVQ-TV.

The sheriff's office put the couple in contact with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks personnel. The couple said they were told someone would come to their house in the morning, as they had not yet realized the bear was closed inside the vehicle.

"Every once in a while you'd hear a crunch. I thought it had a garbage can it was chomping on or something. But it was my car it was crunching up," Mike Pilati said.

Pilati said he only realized in the morning that the door had closed behind the bear, trapping the animal inside the vehicle for nearly eight hours.

The homeowner said he decided not to wait for FWP officials and used a stick to open the car door from a safe distance, freeing the mother bear.

Maria Pilati posted photos and videos to Facebook showing the damage the bear left behind.

The couple said the car is completely trashed.

"Now we call it a Su-bear-ru," Maria Pilati said.