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2nd Floor Tenant Locks Self In Bedroom As Bear Ransacks Apartment

AVON, Colo. (CBS4) - Residents at an apartment complex in Avon are still trying to figure out how a young bear made its way inside a second floor apartment and terrified a tenant.

Just before 5 a.m. Sunday firefighters got a call about a bear inside of a second floor apartment at a complex in Avon, and CBS4's Matt Kroschel talked to the young man who found the bear.

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CBS4's Matt Kroschel interviews Landon Mannick (credit: CBS)

Still not sure if what he was seeing was real or not, resident Landon Mannick called 911.

911 Operator: "911, what is the address of your emergency?"

Mannick: "There is a bear in my apartment … there's a bear, it's a small bear, but it's a bear."

"I could see him right there. I jumped back into my bedroom and locked the door," Mannick said. "I started moving snowboards and the bed in front of the door. I just wasn't going to take any chances."

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(credit: CBS)

Firefighters released video of the young bear poking its head out of Mannick's door to the hallway after a first responder swung it open. The bear then flees the apartment away from the firefighters and out an open door to the outdoors.

"You didn't hear much until you got to the room, and then you could definitely hear it on the other side of the door." Firefighter Richard Romsdahl with the Eagle River Fire Protection District said.

It was a terrifying 10 minutes for Mannick as he waited for help to arrive.

Mannick: "Please hurry."

911 Operator: "I'm right here."

Mannick: "It's in the fridge."

"You could hear the beer bottles in the fridge clinking around. The next thing I hear is the sink come on -- the water is running and running and running," Mannick said.

He said he then heard what sounded like the bear drinking water from the tap.

Mannick: "It's at my door."

911 Operator: "Can you hide somewhere else?"

Still locked inside his bedroom the bear took aim at the leather couch, counters, and the trash, and left a huge mess left behind. Mannick took a snapchat as proof for his family.

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(credit: CBS)
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(credit: CBS)

"They still can't believe this happened to me, because this doesn't happen to anybody," he said.

It's a wildlife encounter Mannick and the first responders he called for help won't soon forget.

"He locked himself in his room, called 911. I would have done the same thing," Romsdahl said.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife believes about 60 percent of bears in Colorado are already out of hibernation and very hungry.

Nobody was hurt, including the bear.

Warnings are now posted at the apartment complex for tenants to be on the lookout for bears.

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