Steve Placzek, a resident of the affluent city north of where the 210 and 605 freeways meet, said the bear ended up stuck in a tree in front of his house for about an hour. Placzek said his dog chased the bear into the tree and was barking at it, while he took the opportunity to snap photos.
"My dog is a bear dog," Placzek said. "Every time it smells a bear, it goes crazy. Deer, coyotes, foxes, we got all sort of wild animals. But only the bears set her off."
According to witnesses, the bear appeared to be a cub without its mother.
Placzek said the bear eventually came down when Department of Fish and Game officials arrived at his house in the foothills. However, he said it was not captured.
Placzek said he thinks he has seen this bear before. His neighbors, the Mendozas, captured photos of a bear who invited itself over for an Independence Day barbecue.
"It's sort of normal here, you see them all the time in spring time, summer time," said Tania Mendoza.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, there was another bear seen earlier Monday in the neighboring city of Duarte.
Officials said that bear was seen in the 200 block of Greenbank Avenue. When authorities arrived, there was an alleged burglary on the same block, so they dealt with that instead of the bear. The bear's whereabouts were not known.
See photos of a black bear roaming around a Montrose neighborhood.
