The 250-lb male bear was first spotted at about 7 a.m. in the 16600 block of Rinaldi Street at the Episcopal Church of St. Andrew & St. Charles, which houses the North Valley Military Institute. About 250 students at the school were placed on lockdown.
Parents were concerned when they drove up and saw police vehicles, and many were relieved to hear that the excitement was for a bear.
"Police everywhere, and there was traffic everywhere," said Christina, a parent.
The bear, who was shot with at least one tranquilizer dart, gave quite a chase to officers. At one point, the bear decided to nap for several hours in a tree. Because the bear was so high up, they couldn't shoot it with beanbags or tranquilizers. They had to use the LAPD helicopter to fly low and scare him out of the tree.
It worked, but when he came out of the tree, he got away.
The bear was then spotted in some trees at the Knollwood Country Club off Armstead Street, and then vanished again in the afternoon.
Just after 5:30 p.m., the tranquilized bear was finally captured in the backyard of a home near Knollwood Country Club and loaded onto a truck. He will be taken back to the forest and released.
It appears the same bear was tagged June 3 and chased out of the same area.
City News Service contributed to this report.
