KINGS BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Sheriff's deputies in Northern California have helped a massive dumpster-diving bear get out of a sticky situation.
Placer County sheriff's deputies found the bear trapped Monday in a locked trash bin in Kings Beach, on Lake Tahoe's northern shore.
Video the agency posted to Facebook shows a deputy shining a flashlight on the dumpster and the bear suddenly popping its head out. As the startled deputy jumps back, others laugh and say "whoa!"
A deputy unlocked the dumpster from a distance and flung open one of the doors on top. The bear was stuck in a smaller opening in the top of the other doors, but eventually drops down, pushes it open just like the deputy did and lumbers out.
The deputies recognized the bear they've dubbed "T-Shirt" for a patch of white fur on its chest. The agency says the animal has had run-ins with deputies before.